MOUND-BIRD. The mound-birds are a group of gallinaceons birds, with feet like those of pigeons in not having the hallux raised above the other toes, and related to the American curassows ( (1.V. ) . They form a family, the which, as is indicated by the name, are characterized by the possession of unusually large feet. Although the family contains two subfamilies, the mound-birds proper or, as they are called in Australia, 'jungle-fowl,' and the brush turkeys (q.v.), yet all these birds agree in the remarkable habit which has given them their widely known popular name. This habit is the building of a huge mound for a nest, within which the eggs are left to lie hatched by heat caused by the decay of vegetable matter within the heap. These mounds vary greatly in size and shape as well as in manner of construction, and in the number and arrangement of the eggs which they contain. The simplest are where the birds excavate a hole in the sand in which the eggs are laid, and are then covered with a mix ture of sand and vegetable matter. Such is the habit of the 'Iowan,' or 'mallee-bird' (.11emtee phalon maleo), of Celebes. In most cases, how ever, the birds scratch up grass, leaves, turf, etc., and with their large feet throw this material to gether in a heap. The female digs down into such a heap from the top and have an egg, which is so placed that it. is nearer the outside than the top of the mound. Just how the young escape from the mound when the egg hatches is still uncertain, but it is probably by digging through to the side. The young are well developed, feathered, and able to fly as soon as they leave the mound. The number of eggs laid by each female is still a matter of doubt ; from four to twenty are found in each mound. and there is no doubt that several females often lay in the same heap. The eggs are white when first laid, lint soon become stained by the vegetable matter in which they lie. They are remarkably large for
the size of the bird and are ellipsoidal rather than oval; they measure from 3 to 4.3 inches in length, according to the species. The birds re sort to the same mound season after season. but add fresh material at every egg-laying time. Consequently the mounds increase with age and may be in use for many years. They are usually inure or less truneatedlv conical or crater-like in form, but may have one of the horizontal diam eters much longer than the others. The largest one on record was reported to be about 50 feet in diameter and some 14 feet high.
The mound-birds themselves are plainly colored and vary in size from a small fowl to a small turkey. They are shy and retiring and are not often seen. They frequent scrub and undergrowth along the seacoast or on the banks of streams emptying into the sea. The mounds are built in open spaces in the thick scrub or on unfre quented parts of the shore. The birds fly little and heavily, and are not easily flushed, hut some times seek shelter in trees. They are said to be noisy at night and to have hoarse call-notes which they use during the day. All the :Mega are inhabitants of the Australasia n region and are not found north of Celebes; the majority of the species arc Australian. The one best known on that continent is the `scrub-hen,' or 'mound-turkey,' of Queensland (Mcgapodius tum ulus). Another smaller one is the leipoa (Lcipoa aeellata). The 'brush-turkeys' of New Guinea and neighboring islands belong to the genus Tal legalus.
Consult Gould and other authorities on the ornithology of Australia (see Palm). See, also, Campl?ell, "Nollnd-Building Birds" (with photo graphic illustrations of 'mounds'), in Bird Lore, vol. v. (New York, 1903).