AYES. 421 



Sp. Levpoa ocellaia Gould, Proceed, of the Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 126, £{rds of 

 Australia, V. 78; in the western part of New Holland; with black bill and 

 legs. The feathers along the neck and on the throat small, narrow and 

 pointed ; above black, with brown-yellow spots, below light reddish-yellow. 



Mesites Ism. Geoffr. Bill rather shorter than head, nearly 

 straight, thin, acuminate at the tip, with lower mandible ascending 

 towards the tip. Nostrils linear, placed in a membranous pit. 

 Tarsi covered anteriorly with a row of transverse scutes. Toes 

 nearly cloven, the outer toes connected at the base by a rudiment of 

 membrane. Wings with quills increasing from the first short to 

 the fifth longest of all, with sixth and seventh subequal to this. 

 Tail long, broad, deflected towards the sides. 



Sp. Mesites variegata IsiD., Geoffr., Guer. Mayas, de Zool. 1839, PI. 5, 6, 

 Desmurs pi. peintes 11; — Mesites unicolor Desmurs, ibid. PI. 11 ; both 

 from Madagascar. This genus is known to me only from figures and 

 descriptions ; of the mode of life of these birds I know nothing. 



Talegallus Less., Gray. Bill shorter than head, strong, 

 compressed, cmwed, with tip of upper mandible produced beyond 

 that of lower. Tarsi covered anteriorly with a double row of 

 transverse scutes. Toes scarcely united at the base. Head and 

 neck denuded. Tail elongate, rounded. 



Sp. Talegallus Cuvierii Less. Voy. de la Coq., Ois. PI. 38, Complem. des 

 (Euvres de Buffo N, 1834, Ois. PI. 44, fig. 2; New Guinea; — Talegallus 

 Lathamii Gray, New Holland. These birds also lay their eggs under 

 decaying leaves. Their presence has more resemblance than that of the 

 other gallinaceous birds to the Vultures, but the osteological and other 

 anatomical particulars do not confirm this apparent affinity. Compare 

 Owen in Proceed, of the Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 112. 



Megacephalon Temm. Bill moderate, compressed, with culmen 

 acute, curved. Nostrils rounded, ample, basal. Tarsi reticulate 

 with scales anteriorly, scutate below only at the base of toes. 

 Anterior toes connected at the base by membrane. Tail broad, 

 deflected towards the sides. Head and neck denuded; occiput with 

 naked, gibbous tubercle. 



Sp. Megacephalon maleo Temm., Grat Gen. of Birds, PI. cxxiii. ; Celebes; 

 a bird of the size of a guinea-fowl, brown-black with violet reflections, the 

 belly rosy-white. This species lays its eggs on heaps of leaves, without 

 brooding them ^. 



1 Compare Temminck Coup d'osil sur les possessions neerlandaisses, iii. 1849, 

 pp. 116, 117. 



