Vol. XIX. 



IQIt) 



] Shufeldt, Material for a Study nj the Meoapodiider. u 



smalK'st islands and sand-bank^, and can cNidcntK- i)ass onht a 

 IV'W iniK's of SIM with caM^.' Indeed, piodl (i| Llieir roaming tlis- 

 position is aftordcd by tiie lact that the i)ird (iescribed by Lesson 

 (' Voy. Coqitillc,' Zool., p. 703) as Alecthclia urvilii, hut now 

 considered to be the young of M. freycineti, flew on board his ship 

 when more than two miles from the nearest land (Guebe), in an 

 e.xhausted state, it is true, but that may be attributed to its 

 e.xtreme youth. The si)eeies of Megapodius are about the size 

 of small lowls, the head geni'rally crested, the tail very short, 

 the feet enormously large, and, with the exception of M. wallacei 

 {Proc. Zool. Soc, i860, Aves, pi. clxxi.), from the Moluccas, all 

 have a sombre plumage."* 



Professor Huxley grouped the Megapodiidcv with tlu^ Cracidce 

 in the division Gallina', designating them as the Perisltropes.-f 

 The opinion of ornithologists is quite general that the Mcgapodes 

 are the lowest type among the Gallinaceous fowls — an opinion 

 based principally upon the fact that they bury their eggs for 

 incubation, and that the young are far advanced upon hatching. 

 Many reptiles also bury their eggs in the ground, where the heat 

 of the sun and the warmth generated by the soil and rotting 

 vegetation incubates them, as is likewise the' case with the eggs 

 of the mound-birds. 



Sharpe arrayed the " Megapodii " as Sub-Order V., or the first 

 Sub-Order of the Galliformes (Order VII. )J 



Professor Max Fiirbringer, in his scheme of classification of 

 birds, divides the Galliformes into the Gallidce and the Opistho- 

 comidce, the former being divided into the three following families 

 in the order given — namely, the Megapodiidcv, Cracidce, and 

 Gallidce or Alectoropodes (" Untersuchungen zur Morphologie und 

 Systematik der Vogel," 1888). 



Indeed, apart from Garrod's unnatural grouping, practically 

 all avian taxonomers of recent times group the MegapodiidcB 

 as the first family under the Galliformes ; so I do not deem it 

 necessary to go further into this part of the subject at the present 

 time, though I may say that I refer especially to tlie classificatory 



* Newton, Alfml, I'.R.S., " A Dictionary of Birds," assisted by Hans Gadow, 

 with contril)iitions from Kichard Lyilekker, Charles S. Roy, and Rol)ert W. 

 Shufeldt, ]\I.I). London, 1X93. Part II., Art. " Mega pod e," p. 542. This 

 article is a very thorough one, and contains a considerable amount of 

 information about the Mcs^apodiidcp, including their peculiar habits of 

 incubation and the names the various species have received. 



f Huxley, Thos. H., " Classification and Distribution of the Alvctoro- 

 morphcs," P.Z.S.. i,S6X, p]i. 29-319. The reference is to what is said on 

 page 296. 



X Sharpe, R. Bowdler, " A Review of Recent Attempts to Classify Birds." 

 Budapest, 1891. Dr. Sharpe said of the Megapodiidcs : — " Episternal 

 process perforated to receive the feet of the coracoids ; nasals holorhinal ; 

 sternum more than twice the length of its inner notch ; hallux on the same 

 level as the other toes, and its basal phalanx as long as that of the third, 

 toe; oil-gland nude. (C/. Seebohm, 'Classification of Birds,' 1890.) Nest, 

 none. Eggs deposited in a mound raised by many of the birds in concert. 

 Young hatched without the intervention of the jiarent bird. ,ind able to 

 fly almost from birth " (p. 6,S). 



