chap, xvii.] MALEOS' EGGS. 417 



and a half inches long by two and a quarter or two and 

 a half wide. 



After the eggs are deposited in the sand they are no 

 further cared for by the mother. The young birds on 

 breaking the shell, work their way up through the sand 

 and run off at once to the forest ; and I was assured by 

 Mr. Duivenboden of Ternate, that they can fly the very 

 day they are hatched. He had taken some eggs on board 

 his schooner which hatched during the night, and in the 

 morning the little birds flew readily across the cabin. 

 Considering the great distances the birds come to deposit 

 the eggs in a proper situation (often ten or fifteen miles) it 

 seems extraordinary that they should take no further care 

 of them. It is, however, quite certain that they neither do 

 nor can watch them. The eggs being deposited by a 

 number of hens in succession in the same hole, would 

 render it impossible for each to distinguish its own ; and 

 the food necessary for such large birds (consisting entirely 

 of fallen fruits) can only be obtained by roaming over an 

 extensive district, so that if the numbers of birds which 

 come down to this single beach in the breeding season, 

 amounting to many hundreds, were obliged to remain in 

 the vicinity, many would perish of hunger. 



In the structure of the feet of this bird, we may detect 

 a cause for its departing from the habits of its nearest 

 allies, the Megapodii and Talegalli, which heap up earth, 



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