142 Mr. A. R. Wallace on the 



seem almost wanting in the mountain districts. Halcyon mela- 

 norhyncha, Temm., is found near the beech and on rivers ; H. 

 monachus, Forsten^ in the forest^ being in its insect food allied 

 to the Dacelones. The beautiful Dacelo cyaiiotis, Temm., oc- 

 curred only in the central virgin forests. Pitta cekbensis, Forst., 

 was scarce ; and I was disappointed in not obtaining either of the 

 other two species found by Forsten. Many other species also 

 escaped me, especially the Meropogon forsteni, Temm., which I 

 had set my heart upon obtaining, but of which I saw no trace. 

 The beautiful Ground Pigeon, Chalcophaps stephani, Reich., though 

 not rare, was very difficult to get ; and of the fine Phlegoenas 

 tristigmata I procured only a single specimen. The birds 

 which possessed the highest interest for me were, however, the 

 two Megapodii, about which I have some interesting facts to 

 communicate. 



One of these is a true Megapodius, of small size, and only 

 remarkable for not making a mound of refuse, like most of the 

 genus, but, instead of this, scratching out a hole in the rotten 

 stump or root of a fallen tree, and there burying its eggs. The 

 species is, I suppose, known, though you do not mention it 

 among those noticed in your paper* on the Fauna of New 

 Guinea. The other is the noble Megacephalon maleo, one of 

 the finest of the Megapodiidce, remarkable for the backward pro- 

 longation of the cranium into a cellular mass, the short, blunt 

 claws, and the delicate rosy hue of the under side of the body. 



This interesting bird is confined, so far as I am aware, to the 

 northern peninsula of Celebes, and to the littoral portions of the 

 island, never being found in the mountain ranges or in the 

 elevated district of Toudano. It seems particularly to abound 

 in the forests around the base of the Klabat mountain, feeding 

 entirely on fallen fruits, which in the crop resemble the cotyle- 

 dons of leguminous seeds. In the months of August and Sep- 

 tembei", when there is little or no rain, they descend to the sea- 

 beach to deposit their eggs. They choose for this purpose certain 

 bays remote from human habitations. One of these serves for 

 an extensive tract of country, and to it the birds repair daily by 

 scores and hundreds. I visited the most celebrated of these 

 * Journ. Proc. Linn. Soc. Zool. ii. p. 14.9. 



