twenty or thirty feet in diameter, which they are enabled
to do with comparative ease by means of their large feet,
with which they can grasp and throw backwards a quantity
of material. In the centre of this mound, at a depth' of
two or three feet, the eggs are deposited, and are hatched
by the gentle heat produced by the fermentation of the
vegetable matter of the mound. When I first saw these
mounds in the island, of Lombock, I could hardly believe
that they were made by such small birds, but I afterwards
met with them frequently, and have once or twice come
upon the birds engaged in making them. . They run a
few steps backwards, grasping a quantity of loose material
in one foot, and throw it a long way behind them.
When once properly buried the eggs seem to be no more
cared for, the young birds working their way ilp through
the heap of rubbish, and running off at once into the forest.
They come out of the egg covered with thick downy
feathers, and have no tail, although the wings are fully
developed.
I was so fortunate as to discover a new species (Mega-
podius wallacei), which inhabits Gilolo, Ternate, and
Bouru. I t is the handsomest bird of the genus, being
richly banded with reddish brown on the back and wings ;
and it differs from the other species in its habits. It frequents
the forests of the interior, and comes down to the
sea-beach to deposit its eggs, but instead of making a
mound, or scratching a hole to receive them, it burrows into
the sand to the depth of about three feet obliquely downwards,
and deposits its eggs at the bottom. It then loosely
covers up the mouth of the hole, and is said by the natives
to obliterate and disguise its own footmarks leading to and
from the hole, by making many other tracks and scratches
in the neighbourhood. It lays its eggs only at night, and
at Bouru a bird was caught early one morning as it wras
coming out of its hole, in which several eggs were found.
All these birds seem to be semi-nocturnal, for their loud
wailing cries may be constantly heard late into the night
and long before daybreak in the morning. The eggs are
all of a rusty red colour, and very large for the size of
the bird, being generally three or three and a quarter
inches long, by two or two and a quarter wide. They
are. very good eating, and are much sought after by the
natives.
Another large and extraordinary bird is the Cassowary,
which inhabits the island of Ceram only. It is a stout and
strong bird, standing five or six feet high, and covered with
long coarse black hair-like feathers. The head is ornamented
with a large horny casque or helmet, and the bare
skin of the neck is conspicuous with bright blue and red
colours. The wings are quite absent, and are replaced by
a group of horny black spines like blunt porcupine quills.
These birds wander about the vast mountainous forests that