Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/242

Rh a thicker shell. The plumage of the Crested Curassow is of a deep glossy black, but the lower belly is white; the naked skin of the face and the cere are bright yellow. The curled tips of the crown-feathers, look like a great number of little velvety globules.

The present Family, scattered over the continent of Australia, and the easternmost islands of the great Indian Archipelago, even to the Philippines, is peculiarly interesting because of its very remarkable domestic economy recently investigated by Mr. Gould. The details, in one species, we shall presently describe.

The beak is vaulted, somewhat compressed; the wings are short and rounded; the tail is short, varying in the number of its feathers from twelve to eighteen; the feet are of disproportionate size and strength; the tarsi being stout, elevated, and strongly scaled; the toes long and robust, and armed with strong, flat, rasorial claws.

The flesh of these singular birds is white, and highly esteemed for its tenderness and flavour. The eggs are of enormous size as compared with those of other birds.

The beak of the Megapodes is slender, nearly straight, and somewhat like that of a fowl; the nostrils placed at the end of a groove reaching beyond the middle, the groove covered with a