184 



THE SAVO MEGAPODE. 



natives adopt sti-ingent measures to protect these birds, re- 

 cognising in their eggs a species of property in which thej all 

 participate and a valuable article for home consumption or 

 foreign commerce. The birds themselves are never molested bj 

 the natives and are accordingly very confident, so much so that 

 the}' subject themselves to the attacks of cats and dogs, and one 

 form which the protection accorded them by the natives takes 

 is that of watching systematically and destroying any animal 

 which is found destroying them. The value placed on the birds 

 too is great, that on one occasion I offered all sorts of ' trade ' 

 for a single pair without result. This however may be partly 

 accounted for by the nature of the taboo set over them by the 

 natives. 



The areas occupied by the burrows containing eggs are 

 carefully plotted out, by means of bamboos ; and even all the 

 leaves, branches, or other debris are removed from the surface. 

 These plots are about ten yards long by five yards wide. The 

 chiefs have four or five plots each and others a less number 

 according to their rank or station. As all holes do not contain 

 eggs at the same time, it is necessary to discover those which 

 do, an insight which the natives can readily acquii^e. Now as 

 each side or secondary burrow is filled up after the egg is placed 

 in it, it does not yield on pressure from above by the foot, which 

 will happen if the side burrow is still unoccupied, and a useful 

 indication is hereby afforded by means of which the presence of 

 eggs can be discovered. Although I have visited several other 

 islands where Megapodes abound I have never met with a 

 similai- protection bestowed on them, or any other birds, to that 

 exercised by the natives of Savo. 



Referring to the bird inhabiting Xau Fou, one of the New 

 Hebrides Group, Dr. G. Bennett (P.Z.S., 1862, p. 247) quoting 

 Capt. MacLeod, states that the mallow which builds its mound 

 one or two feet high in the sulphur looking sand in the centre 

 of the island is protected by the chief by whose permission only 

 can eggs or birds be procured, but how far this protection 

 has been carried does not appear to have been subsequently 

 narrated. The number of eggs which the natives procure 

 annually at Savo is almost incredible. They consume them 

 themselves fiom day to day, preferring the eggs when they are 

 somewhat advanced towards being hatched. Ships also are 

 frequently passing to and fi-o and purchase two to five hundred 

 eggs each. Moreover there are exceptional demands made on 

 the supply. These are at their large feasts at which it is estimated 

 that 10,000 eggs are sometimes consumed. I am not aware 

 that any measures are taken to secure a certain number of 



