REVIEWS. 
31 
We would gladly see more space devoted to the notices of the habits of 
the various animals that are described and figured. The following extract 
in reference to the curious habits of the Megapodius Cumingii will be found 
interesting. It is accompanied by a coloured drawing of the bird, and a 
representation of its “ hatching mounds— 
“In Labuan they are not uncommon, and are said to be principally confined to 
small islands, to such more especially as have sandy beaches; they are very rarely 
to be seen, being extremely shy'and frequenting dense and flat parts of the jungle, 
where the ratans grow, and where the luxuriance of the vegetation renders conceal¬ 
ment easy. The Malays snare them by forming long thick fences in unfrequented 
parts of the jungle, in which, at certain intervals, they leave openings where they 
place traps ; the birds run through the jungle in search of food, and, coming to this 
fence, run along it till they find one of the openings, through which they push their 
way, and are caught in the trap. In walking they lift up their feet very high, and 
set up their backs something like Guinea fowls ; they frequently make a loud noise 
like the screech of a chicken when caught; they are very pugnacious, and fight with 
great fury by jumping upon one another’s backs, and scratching with their long strong 
claws. Their food principally consists of seeds and insects. The eggs are of a fine 
dark cream-colour and of a very large size, three of them weighing nearly as much 
as a full-grown bird. According to the account given by the Malays, each bird 
lays about eight or ten eggs at each time of breeding, and their nests are merely 
large heaps of shells and rubbish, deposited over the sandy soil, in which the eggs 
are buried to the depth of about eighteen inches. Since receiving this account, 
however, we have had an opportunity of inspecting a very large and perfect nest, or 
breeding hill, and found it to be about twenty feet in diameter, and composed of 
sand, earth, and sticks; it was close to the beach, just within the jungle, and scarcely 
above high-water mark, and appeared to have been used for many years. The boat¬ 
men seemed to have no clue to what part of the hillock contained eggs, but said that 
they were never without some when frequented at all; they sought for nearly half 
an hour in vain before they found one, and then got about a dozen together ; they 
were buried at a depth of from one to three feet, in an upright position, and the 
ground about them was astonishingly hard. The eggs thus deposited are left to be 
hatched by the heat of the sun, and this, the Malays assert, requires between three 
and four months to complete: those obtained from this heap were brought home and 
buried in a box of sand, and a month or two afterwards it was discovered they had 
all hatched, but that from neglecting to place them in a proper (i.e., probably an 
upright) position, the chicks could not get up through the sand, and had all perished. 
When hatched, the chicks are almost entirely fledged ; even the long quills being, 
as the Malays say, 1 needled.’ When first dug out, some of the eggs had lost much 
of their outer colour, which appeared to have scaled off, leaving only a white chalky 
shell. On a former occasion some eggs were brought by the natives, and were 
buried in a box of sand and exposed to the weather: at the end of about three 
weeks one of the chicks was hatched; a Malay who saw it emerge, said, that it just 
shook off the sand and ran away so fast that it was with difficulty caught; it then 
appeared to be nearly half grown, and from the first fed itself without hesitation, 
scratching and turning up the sand like an old bird. Two more afterwards 
emerged in the same state. Their eggs are held in such high estimation as food 
both by natives and Europeans, that one cannot but fear that these interesting 
birds, though now so abundant, will ere long become scarce.” 
Many other extracts we might give of equal interest, but, advising our 
readers to select for themselves, and wishing Messrs. Motley and Dillwyn 
every success in their undertaking, we would recommend every one 
taking an interest in Natural History to subscribe for these contribu¬ 
tions. 
