The AUSTRALIAN MEGAPODE (_Megapodius tumulus_) is about the size of a
female Pheasant. The head of this species is dark reddish brown, the
back and wing reddish brown, the upper and lower tail-covers deep
chestnut-brown, the quills and tail-feathers blackish brown, and back of
the head and under side grey. The eye is light reddish brown, the beak of
rather a darker shade, and the foot bright orange.
"On my arrival at Port Essington," says Gilbert, "my attention was
attracted to numerous immense mounds of earth, which were pointed out to
me by some of the residents as the tumuli of the aborigines; on the other
hand, I was assured by the natives that they were formed by the Megapode
for the purpose of incubating its eggs. This latter statement appeared so
extraordinary, and so much at variance with the general habits of birds,
that no one in the settlement believed them or took sufficient interest
in the matter to examine the mounds, and thus to verify or refute their
accounts. Another circumstance which induced a doubt of their veracity
was the great size of the eggs brought in by the natives as those of
this bird. Aware that the eggs of the Leipoa were hatched in a similar
manner, my attention was immediately arrested by these accounts, and I at
once determined to ascertain all I possibly could respecting so singular
a feature in the bird's economy; and having procured the assistance of
a very intelligent native, who undertook to guide me to the different
places resorted to by these birds, I proceeded on the 16th of November to
Knocker's Bay, a part of Port Essington Harbour, comparatively but little
known, and where I had been informed a number of these birds were always
to be seen." A detailed account follows of his finding several different
mounds, which he examined, and was quite convinced that the natives had
spoken the truth concerning them. Somewhat later, Mr. John Macgillivray
observed the Megapode on Nago Island, in Endeavour Straits, and during his
stay there was so fortunate as to procure both the male and the female,
and to find several mounds containing eggs.
"Few birds," says this gentleman, "are more wary and less easily procured
than the Megapodius; it inhabits the belts of brush along the coast, and
I never found the tumulus at a greater distance from the sea than a few
hundred yards. When disturbed this species seldom rises at once, unless
on the margin of a thicket, but runs off to some distance and then takes
to wing, flying heavily, but without any of the whirring noise of the
true _Gallinaceæ_. It seldom takes a long flight, and usually perches on
a tree, remaining there in a crouching attitude with outstretched neck,
but flying off again upon observing any motion made by its pursuer; and
it is only by cautiously sneaking up under cover of the largest trees
that it can be approached within gunshot. As an example of its shyness,
I may mention that a party of three persons scattered about in a jungle
on Nago Island for the purpose of shooting the Megapodius did not see a
single bird, although they put up several, one of which came towards me
and perched, unconscious of my presence, within twenty yards. At Port
Essington I have shot this bird among mangroves, the roots of which were
washed by the sea at high water; and Captain F. P. Blackwood killed one
while running on the mud in a similar locality, in both instances close to
a mound."
Gilbert also confirms the statement that it is found near the shore. The
Megapode, he says, is almost exclusively confined to the dense thickets
immediately adjacent to the sea-beach; it appears never to go far inland,
except along the banks of creeks. It is always met with in pairs, or quite
solitary, and feeds on the ground, its food consisting of roots, which
its powerful claws enable it to scratch up with the utmost facility, and
also of seeds, berries, and insects, particularly the larger species of
_Coleoptera_. He did not himself detect any note or cry, but, from the
natives' description of it, it much resembles the clucking of a Domestic
Fowl, ending with a scream like that of the Peacock. The mounds are
very different, both as regards situation, size, and composition. They
usually stand near the edge of water; some are composed of sand and
shell, while others contain vegetable mould and decaying wood. Gilbert
found one fifteen feet in height and sixty in circumference at the base,
and another which covered a space of at least a hundred and fifty feet
in circumference, and Macgillivray speaks of one of similar height and
extent. It is most probable that these mounds are the work of several
generations; whether each mound is resorted to by more than one pair,
Mr. Macgillivray had not the means of ascertaining. "Some of them," he
observes, "are evidently very ancient, trees being often seen growing
from their sides. In one instance I found a tree which was a foot in
diameter growing from the middle of a mound." The holes containing the
eggs sometimes commence at the outer edge of the summit, and slope down
obliquely, towards the centre, and sometimes run in an oblique direction
from the centre towards the outer slope of the hillock. The eggs lie six
feet deep from the summit, but only two or three feet from the side. "The
natives," says Gilbert, "dig them up with their hands alone, and only make
sufficient room to admit their bodies and to throw out the earth between
their legs; their patience is, however, often put to severe trials, for
they often dig down to a depth of six or seven feet without finding an
egg, and are quite exhausted by their vain attempts. The eggs are placed
in a perpendicular position, the larger end uppermost; they differ in
size, but in form they assimilate; they are three inches and five lines
long, by two inches and three lines broad. The composition of the mound
appears to influence the colouring of a thin epidermis with which the
eggs are covered, and which readily chips off, showing the true shell to
be white; those deposited in the black soil are always of a dark reddish
brown, while those from the sandy hillocks near the beach are of a dirty
yellowish white. The natives affirm that the eggs are deposited at night,
at intervals of several days." The exit of the young bird from the egg was
not seen either by Macgillivray or Gilbert, but the latter found a young
bird in a hole about two feet deep, lying on a few withered leaves, which
appeared to be only a few days old. Gilbert took great care of the bird,
intending to rear it, and placed it in a moderate-sized box containing a
large quantity of sand. It fed freely on bruised corn, but was so wild
and intractable that it would not reconcile itself to confinement, and
escaped on the third day. While in captivity, it was incessantly occupied
in scratching up the sand into heaps, and throwing it from one end of the
box to the other with a rapidity quite surprising for so young and small
a bird, its size not exceeding that of a small Quail. At night it was so
noisy in its efforts to escape that its captor was kept constantly awake.
In scratching up the sand it used only one foot, and having grasped a
footful, threw it behind with but little apparent exertion, and without
shifting its standing position on the other leg. This habit seemed to be
the result of an innate restless disposition, and a desire to use its
powerful feet, and to have but little connection with its feeding, for
though Mr. Gilbert mixed Indian corn with the sand, he never detected the
bird picking any up while so employed.
* * * * *
The CURASSOWS, or HOCCOS (_Cracidæ_), are large or middle-sized birds,
with slender bodies, much-rounded wings in which the four or five exterior
primaries are graduated, and the secondaries prolonged, and a long
powerful tail either slightly graduated or straight at its extremity. The
beak, which is of various lengths and comparatively shorter than that of
a Pigeon, is curved at the culmen, much hooked at the tip, and covered
with a cere which extends over the whole region of the nostrils, and
occasionally over the cheek-stripes and the excrescences exhibited by
some species at the base of the bill. The rather high and sinewy foot is
furnished with long thin toes placed on the same plane, and armed with
narrow, long, pointed, and slightly hooked claws. The heavy plumage is
composed of large feathers, some of which are broadly rounded, and in
one family have the shafts of unusual size at the root, but gradually
tapering towards the extremity. One species in particular possesses this
peculiarity in a high degree, these broad shafts being ten or twenty times
as thick at the centre as at the tip, and from six to ten times as thick
as at the base, the lower portions of these broad shafts are covered
with a downy web, whilst that of the extremity is close in texture. This
peculiar structure of the feathers is much developed in the hinder parts
of the body, and slightly on the wings and tail. Dusky hues predominate
in the coloration of the plumage. These fine birds inhabit the forests
of South America, and build their nests in trees. Like the rest of the
order, they subsist upon worms, insects, fruits, and the seeds of plants.
The above definition includes two distinct families--the CRACES or TRUE
CURASSOWS, and the PENELOPÆ or GUANS.
* * * * *
The TRUE CURASSOWS, or HOCCOS (_Craces_), are powerfully-framed birds,
possessing a high, much-curved beak, with compressed sides, and furnished
with a cere and excrescences at its base. During the period of incubation
the latter swell to a considerable size, and in one species present the
appearance of a horn placed in the centre of the brow, and in another
assume the appearance of a large pear-shaped excrescence. The strong foot
is moderately high, and the toes rather long, the wing short, with its
seventh and eighth quills longer than the rest, and the rounded tail of
medium size. The plumage upon the brow and nape usually forms a comb-like
crest composed of slender, stiff feathers, which incline backwards at
their roots, but project forwards at their curved tips. The feathers on
the cheeks, upper throat, and hinder parts are soft and downy, and those
on the lower neck and rump coarse and harsh; the region of the eye is
bare, and the cheeks covered with small hair-like feathers.
The members of this family occupy the forests of tropical America, where
they frequent the trees, and but rarely descend upon the ground, over
the surface of which, however, they can run with great rapidity; their
flight is slow, horizontal, and never long sustained, and their mode of
disporting themselves when upon the branches of trees, easy though slow.
During the breeding season they are met with in pairs, and at other times
in small parties of some three or four birds. In all the various species
the voice is peculiar, but very different in tone, and is heard most
frequently during the period of incubation, or in the early morning, when
they first awake from sleep. The Indians maintain, and Schomburghk has
corroborated the statement, that one species, the _Urax tomentosa_, always
utters its cry at the moment that the beautiful constellation called the
Southern Cross attains its greatest altitude. In their wild state the
Hoccos subsist principally on fruit and berries of various kinds, and
occasionally consume insects, worms, and portions of certain plants; to
the strong odour of some of the latter is probably attributable a most
unpleasant flavour occasionally observable in their flesh. We are but
little acquainted with the incubation of these birds, except that they
build a flat nest made of twigs interlaced and lined with leaves, and
placed upon the branches at no great distance from the ground. Bates
and Schomburghk are of opinion that the large white eggs are but two in
number; Gray, on the contrary, states that the female lays as many as five
or six. In their native forests the Hoccos exhibit no fear of man, and
if attacked, seem perfectly unconscious of danger, even should they see
their companions fall dead around them. When living in the vicinity of
human habitations, on the contrary, they become extremely timid, and if
approached, at once take wing. The Indians not only eat the flesh of these
birds, but employ their strong quills and tail-feathers as fans; the small
feathers are also used in various kinds of ornamental work. In different
parts of America Curassows have long been domesticated, and at one time
were, it is said, thoroughly acclimatised in Holland by M. Armschoff,
proving in his menagerie as prolific as any of our barn-door poultry.