THE PAINTED MEGAPODES. 185 



Head and neck feathered^ with the exception of a small 

 space round the eye. 



Upper tail-coverts much shorter than the tail-feathers. 



First primary flight-feather intermediate in length between 

 the seventh and eighth, and inuch longer than the tenth. 



Only one species is known. 



I. Wallace's painted megapode. eulipoa wallacii. 



Megapodius wallacii, Gray, P. Z. S. i860, p. 362, pi. clxxi. 

 Eidipoa 7vallacii, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 

 462 (1892). 



Adult. — General colour of the upper-parts olive ; short crest 

 rufous-olive ; inner median wing-coverts, shoulder-feathers, 

 and middle of the back slate-grey, tinged with olive, and 

 widely barred with bright chestnut, the former tipped with 

 pale whitish-grey ; greater secondary-coverts olive, and simi- 

 larly banded with chestnut ; lower back, rump, and under-parts 

 dark grey, except the middle of the belly, which is white. 

 Total length, 14 inches; wings, 7"6-8j tail, 2-6-3*2 ; tarsus, 



2*2. 



Range. — Islands of Gilolo, Batchian,Ternate, Bourou, Ceram, 

 and Amboina. 



HaMts.— "This species," writes Dr. A. R. Wallace, "differs 

 somewhat in its habits from the other members of the Family 

 found in the Malay Islands. It resides generally in the hilly 

 districts of the interior, like the Maleo {JMegacephalon maleo)^ 

 and, like that species, comes down to the beach to deposit its 

 eggs ; but instead of scratching a hole for them and covering it 

 up again, the bird burrows into the sand to a depth of three 

 or four feet obliquely downwards, and deposits its o^'i.g at the 

 bottom. It then loosely covers up the mouth of the hole, 

 and is said by the natives to obliterate and disguise, by 

 innumerable tracks and scratches, its own footmarks leading 

 to the hole. Its offspring is then left to make its way into 



