26S CASSELL'S book of 151 kds. 



ground appears shy and distrustful, but quite fearless when in the trees. " While stalking about the 

 trees," says Mr. Gould, " the Tallegallus utters a rather loud clucking noise, but whc-tlier this sound is 

 only produced by the female I could not ascertain ; still, I think that such is the case, and that the 

 spiteful male, who appears to delight in expanding his richly-coloured fleshy wattles and unmercifully 

 thrashing his helpmate, is generally mute. In various parts of the brush I observed depressions in the 

 earth, which the natives informed me were made by the birds in dusting themselves." 



When disturbed, the Wattled Tallegallus readily eludes pursuit by the facility with which it 

 runs through the tangled brush. If hard pressed, or when rushed upon by its great enemy the native 

 dog, it springs upon the lowermost bough of some neighbouring tree, and by a succession of leaps from 

 branch to branch ascends to the top, and either perches there or flies off to anotlier part of the 

 brush. It has also the habit of resorting to the branches of trees as a shelter from the mid-day sun, 

 a peculiarity that greatly tends to its destruction ; for, like the Ruffed Grouse of America, when 

 assembled in small companies, these birds will allow a succession of shots to be fired until they are 

 all brought down. Unless some measures be adopted for their preservation, this circumstance must 

 lead to an early extinction of this singular species — an event much to be regretted, since, indepenilcntly 

 of its being an interesting object for the aviary, it is an excellent bird for the table. 



THE MALEO. 



The Maleo {Megacepkalon Mated) is characterised by a hard, round excrescence that commences 

 at the nostrils and passes over the brow to the back of the head. The powerful beak is ridged at its 

 culmen, and has the margin of the lower mandible almost straight ; the third quill in the shell-shaped 

 wing is longer than the rest ; the rounded tail is composed of eighteen feathers, and the strong foot 

 furnished with short toes. The plumage on the back, a band on the breast, and the region of the 

 vent and thighs are blackish brown, and the breast and belly pale rose-red. The eye is yellow, 

 the bare part of the head whitish blue, the occipital protuberance blue ; tlie beak and the fore part of 

 the foot are horn-grey. This species is twenty-four inches long ; the wing measures eleven and the 

 tail eight inches. 



" In the months of August and September," says Wallace, " when there is little or no rain, the 

 Maleos come do^vn in pairs from the interior to one or two favourite spots, and scratch holes three or 

 four feet deep, just above high-water mark, where the female deposits a single large egg, which she covers 

 with about a foot of sand, and then returns to the forest. At the end often or twelve days she comes 

 again to the same spot to lay another egg, and each female bird is supposed to lay six or eight eggs 

 during the season. The male assists the female in making the hole, coming down and returning with 

 her. The appearance of these birds when vyalking on the beach is very handsome. The glossy black 

 and rosy white of the plumage, the helmeted head, and elevated tail, like that of the Common Fowl, 

 give a striking character, which their stately and somewhat sedate walk renders still more remarkable. 

 There is hardly any difference between the sexes, except that the casque or bonnet at the back of the 

 liead and the tubercles at the nostrils are a little larger, while the beautiful rosy salmon-colour is perhaps 

 deeper in the male bird ; but the difference is so slight that it is not always possible to tell a male from 

 a female without dissection. They run quickly, but when shot at or suddenly disturbed take wing wth 

 a heavy noisy flight to some neighbouring tree, where they settle on a low branch ; they probably 

 roost at night in a similar situation. Many females lay in the same hole, for a dozen eggs aire often 

 found together, and tliese are so large that it is not possible for the body of the bird to contain more 

 than one fully-developed egg at the same time. In all the female birds which I shot," continues this 

 author, "none of the eggs besides the one large one exceeded the size of peas, and there were only 

 eight or nine of these, which is possibly the extreme number a bird can lay in the season. 



