119 
were brought him, but which he had no means of ascertaining how 
long they had been laid, he buried in a box of sand about 3 feet deep 
and exposed to the weather. At the end of about three weeks a young 
bird came up, not downy, but covered with little shafts or pens ready 
to form feathers. One of the Malays employed by Mr. Motley saw it 
emerge, and said that it just shook off the sand and ran away so fast 
that it was with difficulty caught. On the next day, when Mr. Motley 
first saw it, it appeared to him to be about half-grown. From the first 
it fed itself without hesitation, scratching and turning up the earth 
like an old bird. Two more afterwards emerged in the same state. 
According to Mr. Motley, the sexes are alike, except that the naked 
skin about the head is redder in the male than in the female. 
In his investigations respecting the nidification of these birds, Mr. 
Motley was much assisted by Mr. Low, who is resident in the island. 
As the Philippine specimens brought home by Mr. Cuming have 
not yet been characterized, I propose to name this species 
Mercapopivus CuMINGII. 
Sp. Char. Olivaceous brown above; blackish slate colour with a 
slight olivaceous tinge below ; the feathers on the throat and nape are 
thinly dispersed, so as to leave that part nearly bare; on the hind 
head the feathers are somewhat lengthened, forming a kind of crest ; 
bill black at the base, yellowish towards the tip; legs, feet and claws 
black ; the bare skin about the head is redder in the male than in the 
female. 
in. lin. 
Length from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, about 14 0 
Op, DUN GONE DADE eae ase oe ae ga es a eas estes Leng 
GE BU ee PORE el seo yin et tase Cee. 
Sak UE oS ates “Gell Seu alan cerd idea Hineermnabae aaa at « sill 
GCA, SIDEMAN ee GER ne tone sop ene Sng OO 
TSU S 39 onktenthedenaiedina raf enc edge maracas atte ae ted 
CAPE GTT (2h ON ee eee data an ee in ampere abe Pi i i 
Poi TCU LS: pe clnet Re a dale ep a ees ag 
The front toes are nearly equal, the middle toe being rather the 
longest, and the inner one shortest. 
To the foregoing account some additional details of considerable in- 
terest may be subjoined. These details, although dated Labuan, July 
1850, were not received until after Mr. Dillwyn’s communication :— 
ExtTrRAct From A Letter From Mr. Hues Low, DATED 
LaBvan, 4TH oF JuLy, 1850. 
«‘T have been using great exertions to procure for the Earl of 
Derby a very remarkable Gallinaceous bird, the existence of which I 
ascertained only three months back ; having no books I am unable 
to refer to its genus, but it is nearer a Guinea fowl than anything else. 
I heard from the natives that such a bird existed, and that its eggs 
