Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/83

MOULTRIE. superior oflicer. General Charles Lee. For his success ho received the thanks of Congress, and in his honor the fort was named Fort Moul- trie. In September of the same year he was made a brigadier-general and was put in command of tlie Department of Georgia and South Carolina. He defeated the British under General Gardner at Beaufort in February, 1779, and, by obstructing the advance of Prevost in May, enabled Cliarleston to prepare for its de- fense, finally entering the city and holding chief command until the arrival of General Lincoln. On the surrender of Charleston in May, 1780, he became a prisoner, but in February, 17S2, he, with several others, was exchanged for Burgoyne. He was made a major-general in October of that year, and subsequently was twice (in 17So and in 1794) elected Governor of South Carolina. Ho retired to private life after his second term and died at Charleston. September 27, 1805. His Memoirs of I he I'evolut ion as far as it related to the States of Xorth and South Ciirolina (2 vols., 1802) was written in part while he was a prisoner, and was finished in later years. MOUND-BIRD. The mound-birds are a group of gallinaceous birds, with feet like those of pigeons in not having the hallu. raised above the other toes, and related to the American curassows (q.v. ). They form a family, the Megapodida", which, as is indicated by the name, are characterized by the po.ssession 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 ha.s given them tlieir widely known popular name. This habit is the building of a huge mound for a nest, within which the eggs are left to be hatched by heat caused by the decay of vegetable matter within the heap. Tliese 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 ami vegetable matter. Such is the habit of the 'lowan.' or 'mallee-bird' (Mef/aee- phalon nifiJeo) . of Celebes. In most cases, how- ever, the birds scratch up grass, leaves, tvirf. etc., and with tlieir large feet throw this material to- gether in a heap. The female digs down into such a heap from the top and lays an egg. which is so placed that it is nearer the outside tlian the top of the moind. 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, but 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 jneasure 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 65 MOUNDSVILLE. may be in use for many years. They are usually more or less truncatedly 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 mouml-birds themselves are plainly colored and vary in size from a small fowl to a small turkey. The}' are shy and retiring and are not often seen. They frequent scrub and jindergrowth along the seaeoast or on the banks of streanus 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 tly little and heavily, and are not easily Hushed, but some- times seek shelter in trees. They are said to be noisy at night and to have hoarse call-notes which the}' use during the day. All the Mega- podidoe are inhabitants of the Australasian region and are not found north of Celebes ; the majority of the species are Australian. The one best known on that continent is the 'scrub-hen." or 'mound-turkey,' of Queensland {Meriapodiiis tum- ulus) . Another smaller one is the leipoa {Leipoa urellata) . The 'brush-turkeys' of New Guinea and neighboring islands belong to the genus Tal- legalus. Consult Ciould and other authorities on the ornithology of Australia (.see Bird). See. also, Campbell. "Mound-Building Birds" (with photo- grapliic illustrations of 'mounds'), in Bird Lore, vol. V. (New York, l!tO:{). MOUND-BUILDERS. Specifically, a hypo- thetical race or people at one time supposed to have antedated the Indian tribes as inhabitants of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys ; but the "Mound-Builders' of the Mississippi Valley are now regarded merely as the ancestors and repre- sentatives of the tribes fomid in the same region by Spanish. French, and English pioneers. The custom of erecting mounds has been widespread: most primitive peoples are known to have erected mounds either habitually or in some stage of their development. Most of the mounds of the typical regions in Central North America are mortuary or sacrificial. The chief contents are skeletons, with ceremonial and other objects buried with the bodies, while the structures are wholly of earth : in a few eases house-like struc- tvires form the nucleus of the mound. In the Southwestern United States, in Central America, and elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere, as in the Old World, the mounds are .sometimes crumbled ruins of structures of adobe, or sun- dried brick. MOUND CITY. The county-seat of Pulaski County. 111., eight miles north of Cairo: on the Ohio River. an<l on the Cleveland. Cincinnati. Chicago and Saint Louis Railroad and a branch of the Illinois Central (Map: Illinois, C 6). It has a trade in lumber, ship-building interests, and manufactures of himber, staves, furniture, pumps, etc. In the national cemetery here are 5310 craves, 2732 of unkno«ii dead. Population, in 1900. 270.'). MOUNDS'VILLE. A city, named in honor of its most striking attraction, and the county- seat of ilarshall County. W. Va.. 11 miles south of Wheeling: on the Ohio River, and on the Bal- timore and Ohio and the Ohio River railroads (Map: West Virginia. D 2). It is the seat of