Читать книгу A Manual of Philippine Birds - Richard C. McGregor - Страница 18

 Megapodius cumingii Dillwyn, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1851), 119, pl. 39.

 Megapodius pusillus Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1877), 765, pl. 78 (juv.).

 Megapodius dillwyni Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1877), 766.

 Megapodius cumingi Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1893), 22, 449; Meyer and Wiglesworth, Birds of Celebes (1898), 2, 671, pl. 41, fig. 1; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 12; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1901), 1, 16; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 7.

Ou-cong′, Calayan, Camiguin N.; ta-bon′, Luzon, Mindoro, Cagayancillo, and in general.

Balabac (Steere, Everett); Bantayan (McGregor); Basilan (Steere, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Cagayancillo (McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Camiguin N. (McGregor); Cebu (Everett, Bourns & Worcester); Cresta de Gallo (McGregor); Fuga (Whitehead, McGregor); Luzon (Cuming, Heriot, Whitehead); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Mindanao (Steere, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Goodfellow); Mindoro (McGregor, Porter); Palawan (Everett, Lempriere, Whitehead, Platen, Bourns & Worcester, White); Romblon (Bourns & Worcester); Samar (Bourns & Worcester); Sibutu (Everett); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Bourns & Worcester, Platen); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor). Celebean Islands and islands of northwestern Borneo.

Adult.—Top of head dark blue-gray with a wash of olive-brown; a narrow gray collar on hind neck; rest of upper parts, including exposed parts of folded wing, rich olive-brown; lower parts dark blue-gray. Iris brown; bill yellow, dusky at base and about nostrils; legs and nails black or dark brown; skin about eye varies from bright red to almost black. A male from Cagayancillo measures, 340 in length; wing, 230; tail, 72.4; tarsus, 62; middle toe with claw, 57; bill from nostril, 14. A female from the same island measures, 340 in length; wing, 235; tail, 70; tarsus, 58; middle toe with claw, 57; bill from nostril, 14.

Young.—A bird measuring but 165 in length, taken in Calayan, October 7, 1903, bears a general resemblance to the adult but the superorbital space, lores, chin, and throat are closely feathered; forehead, chin, and area below eye dull yellowish brown; throat, sides of neck, and breast dull brown; middle of abdomen dark ochraceous brown; feathers of upper parts dark brown, obscurely edged with olive-brown on back, scapulars, and wing-coverts; plumage, except remiges and rectrices, soft and decomposed.

Nest.—The incubation mound built by this species is fully described below. The eggs are prized by the natives for food; both the eggs and the birds are quite palatable. When fresh the thin surface layer of the egg is dark pink, usually smooth, but occasionally roughened by small lumps; when exposed to air and light for some time the color becomes dull, dirty brown and in many cases the outer layer crumbles away exposing the true shell which is dull white and closely pitted. Five eggs from Calayan taken in December measure: 78 by 52; 82 by 52.5; 82.5 by 47; 80 by 51; 79 by 51.

“This species probably occurs on every island of any size in the group. It is frequently met with a considerable distance inland, where it frequents wooded plains and hill. Its nest is usually, though by no means always, built near the seashore. Several pairs of birds frequently nest in the same mound, scratching up a little additional material every time that an egg is deposited, eventually forming a very large mound of earth, decayed leaves, sticks, etc., which in extreme cases comes to measure from 4 to 5 meters in diameter by 1½ meters high in the middle. The mound is frequently formed about the roots of some old stump. When ready to lay, the female tunnels into this mound, sometimes even burrowing into the solid ground to a depth of half a meter or more, so that the eggs are one to two meters below the surface of the mound. The egg is deposited at the bottom of this burrow, which is then filled up. The young birds dig to the surface as soon as hatched. They can run and fly when they leave the shell, and seem always to shift for themselves from the day of their birth. M. cumingi seems to lay all the year round, the female apparently depositing an egg about once a week. The eggs are oval in form, of a curious pinkish color when fresh, but rapidly fading to a light dirty brown if exposed to the light.

“The old birds seem rather reluctant to take wing and when flushed fly but a short distance, alight on the ground and run with great rapidity.

“There is much individual variation as to size and color even in birds from one locality. Length, 336 to 380; culmen, 15 to 19; tarsus, 55 to 68; wing, 210 to 233; tail, 63 to 86. Iris dark chocolate-brown; bill light yellowish at tip, brown at base; legs sometimes dark brown, but usually strongly tinged with red, especially at back; feet dark brown to black; nails black.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)