^°'lor''^'] SfiUFELnT, Material fny a Study of the Mef^apodiidcr. 27 



(" >[alay Aivh.," j,|,. k,^, i(,(,) : " Tli.' Mc-u/yu/K/u-r Ur says, 

 " are a small laiiiily "I birds loiuul only in Australia and tiir 

 surrounding islands, but extending as far" as tlie Philippines and 

 North-East Borneo. Tliey are allied to tlu> (iallinaceous birds, 

 but differ from these and from all otiurs in never sitting upon 

 their eggs, which they bury in sand, eartli, or rubbish, and leave 

 to be hatched by the heat of the sun or fermentation. They arc 

 all characterized by very large feet and long, curved claws, and 

 rnost of the species of Megapodiiis rake and scratch together all 

 kinds of rubbish, dead leaves, sticks, stones, earth, rotten wood, 

 &c., till they form a large mound, often 6 feet high and 12 feet 

 across, in the middle of which they bury their eggs. The natives 

 can tell by the condition of these mounds whether they contain 

 eggs or not ; and they rob them whenever they can, as the brick- 

 red eggs (as large as those of a Swan) are considered a great 

 delicacy. A number of birds are said to join in making these 

 mounds and lay their eggs together, so that sometimes forty or 

 fifty may be found. The mounds are to be met with here and 

 there in dense thickets, and are great puzzles to strangers, who 

 cannot understand who can possibly have heaped together cart- 

 loads of rubbish in such out-of-the-way places ; and when they 

 inquire of the natives they are but little wiser, for it almost always 

 appears to them the wildest romance to be told that it is all dom^ 

 by birds." 



EXPLAN.ATIOX OF Pl.ATES. 



(All the figures in the plates are reproductions of photographs made 

 by the author direct from the specimens. They were all made 

 natural size ; and, should any particular figure not agree with 

 the measurements given in the text and elsewhere, that figure 

 has been reduced in reproduction.) 



Pl.vte I. 

 Fig. T.— Left lateral view of the head of Megapodius mcoharieusis ■ 



adult male. No. 178,336, Coll. U.vS. Nat. Mus. 

 Fig. 2.— Left lateral view of the head of Megapodius cumiugi ■ adult 



male. No. 201,738, Coll. U.S. Nat. Mus. 



Pl.\te II. 



Fig. 3. —Right (arsus and foot of Megapodius cumiugi ; adult male. 

 No. 201,738, Coll. U.S. Nat. :\Ius. The head of this speci- 

 men is shown in Plate I., fig. 2. 



Fig. 4.— Left tarsus and foot of Megapodius cumiugi ; ])clongs lo the 

 same specimen sliown in fig. :;. Both figures are shown on 

 outer aspect. 



Fig. 5. —Right tarsus and foot of Megapodius nicobariensis ■ adult 

 male. No. 178,336, Coll. U.S. Nat. Mus. Belongs to the 

 specimen .shown in Plate I., fig. 1, above. 



Fig. 6.— Left tarsus and foot of Megapodius nicobariensis. Same 

 specimen as fig. 5. 



