BY A. H. KISSACK, ESQ. 



183 



The iiumbev of eggfi coiitained in each ]iole varies from 

 eight to ten and it is generally supposed that each of these in 

 a single burrow is laid by a different bird, since it is an 

 ascertained fact that a, considerable interval must necessarily 

 lapse between the laying of successive eggs in all Megapodes, 

 and a burrow would have to retnain open a long time to receive 

 all the eggs of a single bii-d. On the other hand I am inclined 

 to think that each burrow contains the eggs of a single bird 

 only, since these eggs often bear evidence of having been depo- 

 sited at long intervals, the mouths of the burrows are often 

 open for a moderate length of time, and the birds are fully 

 capable of filling in the burrow after each successive laying. 



The number of eggs laid during a season by a single bird 

 cannot be ascertained. The mothers care seems to cease with 

 the deposition of each egg which in the hot sand takes from 

 five to six weeks to hatch — the egg of the Labuan Megajjode, 

 M. Cumingi, Dillwyn, which is a mound-builder, is said how- 

 ever to take from three to four months (P.Z.S., 1851.) 



On one occasion I packed some eggs in salt and they hatched 

 in a fortnight, but in this case I did not know what period had 

 elapsed since their having been laid. The young birds I 

 managed to keep alive on board ship for a month feeding them 

 on insects, yam, and chopped up egg, and it was only when my 

 supply of the last mentioned article failed that the birds died. 

 More recently I hatched two by simply placing them in tow and 

 leaving them on a shelf, but these I knew to have previously 

 arrived at rather an advanced stage of developement. On their 

 being hatched the young birds quickly dig their way out through 

 the sand which covers them and immediately run f)ff and shift 

 for themselves. At this time they are fully feathered. When 

 hatched under such artificial circumstances as those which I 

 have referred to the birds are at first covered with a sort of thin 

 skin-like investment which peels off on the l2nd day, and though 

 the birds I'emain in a semidormant condition for three ov four 

 days their latent energies can, even during this early period be 

 brought into operation, and one which 1 had on being aroused 

 from this inactive condition flew from the ship to the land a 

 distance of fully half a mile. 



In the descriptions of other Megapodes and their habits 

 writers have pointed out or suggested their extreme shyness ; 

 at Savo on the other hand what is more especially luiticeable is 

 their remarkable tameness, the birds affecting to take little notice 

 of even a white man, running about, a few yards from ones feet. 

 This is soon accounted for by the note-worthy fact that the Savo 



