542 MEGAPODE 
known from very young examples—mere chickens ; and some have 
even been described from their eggs alone. In 1870 Mr. G. R. 
Gray enumerated 20 species, of which 16 
were represented in the British Museum, 
and several have been described since ; 
but ten years later Schlegel recognized 
only 17 species, of which examples of 12 
were contained in the Leyden Museum 
Beg ne eee (Mr us. des Pays-Bas, Vill. Monogr. 41, pp. 
(Atte Swainson) 56-86), while M. Oustalet, in his elaborate 
monograph of the Family (Aun. Se. Nat., 
Zool. ser. 6, x. and xi.), admits 19 species. The birds of this genus 
range from the Samoa Islands in the east, through the Tonga group, 
to the New Hebrides, the northern part of Australia, New Guinea 
and its neighbouring islands, Celebes, the Pelew Islands, and the 
Ladrones, and have also outliers in detached portions of the Indian 
Region, as the Philippines (where indeed they were first discovered 
by Europeans), Labuan, and even the Nicobars—though none are 
known from the intervening islands of Borneo,! Java, or Sumatra. 
Within what may be deemed their proper area they are found, 
says Mr. Wallace (Geogr. Distr. Anim. ii. p. 
341) “on the smallest islands and sand-banks, 
and can evidently pass over a few miles of sea 
with ease.” Indeed proof of their roaming 
disposition is afforded by the fact that the 
bird described by Lesson (Voy. ‘ Coquille,’ Zool. 
p- 703) as Alecthelia urvillii, but now con- 
sidered to be the young of I. freycineti, flew 
on board his ship when more than two miles 
from the nearest land (Guebé), in an ex- 
hausted state, it is true, but that may be 
attributed to its extreme youth. The species 
of Megapodius are about the size of small 
Fowls, the head generally crested, the tail 
very short, the feet enormously large, and, with the exception of 
M. wallacii (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1860, Aves, pl. 171) from the Moluccas, 
all have a sombre plumage. 
The extraordinary habit possessed by the Megapodes generally of 
relieving themselves of the duty of incubation, as before mentioned, 
a habit which originally attracted the attention of travellers, 
whose stories were on that very account discredited,—as well as the 
highly developed condition of the young at birth, has been so fully 
MEGAPODIUS FREYCINETI. 
(After Swainson.) 
1 M. cumingi occurs on Labuan and other islands off the north cotst of 
Borneo, and it is recorded (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1881, p. 800) from Sandakan, but 
confirmation of the statement is desirable. 
