THE TRUE MEC.APODES. 1 65 



First primary flight-feather about equal to or rather shorter 

 than the tenth; the fifth somewhat the longest. Secondary 

 q It His as long as the primaries. 



Tail short and rounded, composed of twelve feathers. 



Legs (metatarsi) and feet very large and strong ; fore-part of 

 legs covered by a single row of large scales. 



Claws long and straight, that of the middle toe being much 

 longer than the upper mandible, measured from the posterior 

 wall of the nostril to the tip. 



I. THE NICOBAR MEGAPODE. MEGAPODIUS NICOBARIENSIS. 



Megapodms ni.obatiensis, Blyth, J. As. Soc Beng. xv. pp. 52, 

 372 (1846); V. Pelz. Reise Novara, Vog. p. no, pis. iv. 

 and vi. fig. 12 [egg] (1865) ; Hume and Marshall, Game- 

 Birds of India, i. p. 119, pi. (1878); iii. App. p. 428, 

 pi. ii. (1880); Gates, ed. Hume's Nests and Eggs, Ind. 

 B. iii. p. 449 (1890); Ggilvie Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 

 xxii. p. 447 (1893). 



Megxpodius tj'inkutensis, Sharpe. Ann. Mag. N. H. (4) xiii. p. 

 448 (1874). 



Adult Male and Female. — Upper-parts dull olive-brown, the 

 mantle being similarly coloured to the rest of the upper-parts, 

 wing-coverts and outer webs of quills biighter than the back; 

 those of the outer primary quills being pale ochraceous ; under- 

 parts pale grey, washed with brown on the chest. Total length, 

 14-5 inches; wing, 9*2; tail, 2*9; tarsus, 27. 



Younger examples have the neck feathered and the under- 

 parts brown or rufous-brown. 



In some examples I have examined the crown is partially or 

 entirely naked and covered with thick black-looking skin, which 

 has much the appearance of a scab. This peculiarity, which is 

 not due to age, is no doubt abnormal, and possibly caused by 

 disease. 



Range, — Nicobar Islands. 



