Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to the surface that it heats the streams that fl ow down the volcano's fl anks.
Scalding waterfalls nourish dense gardens of ferns and mosses. As I scram-
bled up the volcanic slopes through the hot mist I managed to catch glimpses
of the megapodes, and saw the disturbed ashy soil that marked their nests.
The villagers dug into one of the nests and found a brown egg, which they
brought carefully back with them.
The Savo megapodes have evolved to take advantage of the energy gen-
erated by the same great volcanic upheavals that move continental plates
around. They are able to excavate their nests in soft soil that is kept at a cozy
temperature by the volcanic heat from below.
How long will the megapode population of Savo persist? Not long,
probably. The villagers watch over the nests and are careful not to take too
many eggs, but poachers sometimes sneak in and grab eggs clandestinely.
Several species of megapode in the islands of Melanesia have already gone
extinct.
Figure 49
The headman of Reko village on Savo digs out a megapode egg from the warm
soil on the slopes of the volcano.
