94 A NATURALIST IN CELEBES ch. v 



The well-known Turtur tigrina, found all over the 

 Malay Archipelago, is also found in Talisse. It may be 

 that it has been imported within recent years from Java, 

 for it is everywhere a domestic pet in the colonial house- 

 hold. These birds are invariably found in pairs, and usually 

 they perch so close to one another that it is impossible 

 to shoot one without the other. The natives call it the 

 ' Burong kuku.' 



The bird which perhaps gave me more trouble than 

 any other was the little brush-turkey {Megapodius Gilberti), 

 called by the natives ' Maleo ketjil,' or small maleo. It 

 seems to be particularly fond of the bamboo woods, 

 and I scarcely ever walked through a little clump of 

 bamboos about a quarter of a mile along the path 

 to the south of my hut without seeing or hearing a 

 ' maleo.' But seeing and hearing these birds are not shoot- 

 ing them, and when hours have been spent in chasing or 

 endeavouring to stalk them in vain, one is almost incKned 

 to wish sometimes that they would keep out of sight and 

 hearing. The ground in the woods is usually covered 

 with the crisp leaves of the bamboos, which make a loud 

 crackling sound when trodden upon, and very effectively 

 give warning to any bird or beast in the vicinity that 

 danger is at hand. Approaching the wood along the 

 little path very cautiously, a rustling sound in the leaves 

 would frequently be heard, and Manuel would whisper to 

 me, ' Burong maleo tuan ' ; but before I could get time to 

 have a shot the bird would scamper away among the 

 thickets and be lost to me. I tried several times to have 

 the birds driven up towards me, and sent iny boys round 

 the bush with sticks to beat them up to where I was stand- 

 ing ; but it was all in vain — they always managed to evade 

 us and disappear in the undergrowth before I could get a 

 shot. The only specimen I obtained was shot for me by 



