Jan., 1906 | 
PAPERS ON PHILIPPINE BIRDS I. 
15 
the claws are particularly thick and strong. The sexes are similar in coloration. 
The nest consists of a great pile of sand, earth and leaves in which the eggs are 
buried at from twenty to thirty inches from the surface. I doubt if decaying vege- 
tation has anything to do in producing the required temperature for I never found 
any such material in the numerous mounds examined. After depositing an egg 
and covering it with earth the old bird thinks no more of the matter and it seems 
to be asking too much of her to require that she calculate the hatching date of her 
chicks and be on hand to help them escape from the ground! 
Probably several birds combine their energies on a single mound tho I know of 
no direct evidence bearing on the matter. The eggs are very large for the size of 
the bird, having fully twice the capacity of a lien’s egg. When fresh they are pink 
but turn to a dirty brown as incubation advances. These birds afford even less 
sport than Gallus as they are always found on the ground and seldom fly unless 
hard pressed. The flesh is a trifle strong but is not to be despised in camp. 
Both Gallus and Megapodius are found on Calavan but are comparatively 
scarce there. It is not unusual to find these two species rare on a large island 
and abundant on a smaller island nearby. Possibly monkeys, found in the forest 
of all the larger islands and usually absent from small islands, control the increase 
of these ground nesting birds by destroying their eggs. 
September 3. — The wind and rain having moderated and the crew having im- 
provised a set of oars and cleaned the boat we set sail for the island of Calayan 
which we reached, after various delays, on September 7. Here I dismissed the 
boat, intending to collect thoroly on this island. 
Calayan lies about 25 miles north of F'uga and is a little larger than that 
island being approximately fifteen miles long by seven miles in greatest width. 
'1'he beach for the greater part is coral, and narrow flats of the same material are 
exposed at low tide; beyond the flats the water deepens rapidly. Back of the 
narrow beach is a fringe of small trees ( Barringtonia ) inhabited principally by 
megapodes. bronze-winged doves ( Chalcophaps indica) and a small migratory hawk 
( 'Accipitcr gu laris). Back of the fringe of beach trees are small meadows or 
glades more or less surrounded by thickets of guava bushes. This level area is 
narrow, the remainder of the island having an uneven and elevated surface. In 
the central part of the island there is a ridge of moderately high hills covered with 
heavy forest; many of the trees are valuable for timber. On the lower hills are 
large patches of “cogon,” a tall coarse grass which is very serviceable for thatching 
houses. Extensive beds of coral limestone were noticed even on the tops of the 
higher hills, but the eastern part of the island is entirely basaltic in structure and 
many of the columns are well preserved. 
The small town in which we were to spend some four months is inhabited by 
natives of northern Luzon (mostly Ilocanos) and by a few families from the 
Batanes, small islands north of Calayan. The people of the Batanes have a dia- 
lect considerably different from any of the people inhabiting Luzon and my 
Tagalo assistant, Andres Celestino, who is familiar with several of the dialects 
spoken in the Philippine Islands, was unable to understand the Batan islanders; 
he said; “They talk just like birds.” 
Thru the influence of the “presidente’’ of Calayan a family was induced 
to move, and to rent us their house at the modest sum of two dollars per month. 
Ours was one of the best houses in town. 
The following I quote from my note-book: “With the exception of two or 
