MEOAPOIIIU.S. 1 ■'>5 



Ordkr gallin.^. 



Sul)-c)rder Megapodii. 

 Family MEGAPODIID^. 



Megapodius tumulus. 



JUNiiLE FOWL OK •■SCRUB-HEN." 



Meijapodius: liimidm, (io\i\d,yTO':. 'Aoo\. Soc, 184-2, p. 20 ; i<L, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. V., pi. 79 

 (184.S) ; id., Haiidhk. Bds. Austr., Vol. IT., p. 1G7 (ISG.t). 



Megajiodiug dnperreyi, (J,rn,nt, V:\t. \^(\?,. Brit. Mus., Vol. XXII., p. 4.54 (1 S9.3; ; Sliarpe, Ilaml-I. 

 Bds., Vol. I., p. 13 (IS9!.)). 



Adult male. — Crown of (lie head and ati occipital creat, wiu(/s, back, rump, upper tail-coverts 

 and tail rich cheslniitdiroivn, the feathers of the mantle being shaded tcith olive; chi^t, throat, entire 

 neck and all the under parts dull dark len.den-i/rey ; jlaiiks and under tail-coverts ricli chestnut broivn. 

 Total leni/th 26 inches, ndng 10, tail If, e.cposed portion of bill H'S7, tarsus 3. 



Adult fkmalk — Sioiilar in plumage to tin' male. 



Distnhntion. — North-western Australia, Xorthern Territory of South Australia, Queensland, 

 Islands of Torres Strait. 



MOKE has probably been written on the mound-raisinp; birds of Australia than any other 

 ( )rder inhabiting this island-continent. The manner in which the three representatives 

 of the Sub-Order IMeKapodii, found in Australia, scrape together huge mounds of earth and gravel, 

 instead of building a nest and incubating the eggs, has arrested the attention generally of 

 Ornithologists and travellers since Ouoy and Gaimard first characterised Mi-^apodiiis fnjiiiitii, 

 in 1S24, a species inhabiting Western New Guinea and some of the Molucca Islands. In 

 these tumuli they deposit their eggs, on end, in layers, in a hollowed out and properly prepared 

 chamber tilled with leaves, grasses, rotten wood, c\:c., which is again covered with a layer of 

 mould, sand and gravel, the moisture of passing showers, and the heat of the sun's rays, although 

 perhaps partially protected by the surrounding or overhead \'egetation, forming a perfect 

 incubating chamber, when the thin shelled eggs are brought out by the heat of this fermenting 

 mass or forcing-bed. The young birds, as soon as they emerge from the shell, are remarkably 

 strong, have the legs and feet well developed, and are able to scramble out of the mound unassisted 

 by their parents, and without any parental help or control are soon lost to view in the scrub, there 

 to begin their usual solitary existence. These mounds are resorted to by the same pair or pairs of 

 birds year after year, who add fresh material to them before depositing their eggs. It is noteworthy 

 that the eggs of many reptiles are hatched in a similar manner by covering them with a layer of 

 earth and rotten wood. The range of Megapodius tiiinulus, a very close ally of M. diipenvyi, in 

 fact some authorities regard them as identical and one and the same species, occurs throughout 

 the coastal and contiguous districts of the extreme north of North-western .Australia, the 

 Northern Territory of South Australia, the Cape York Peninsula and as far south in Queensland 

 as the Barnard Islands and the islands of Torres Strait. 



