THE MEGAPODES, BRUSH-TURKEYS, AND MALEOS. 163 
Rhynchortyx cinctus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 
444 (1893). 
Adult—Differs from . sfodios/ethus in having the crown, 
mantle, ches¢, and sides of the breast deep rufous; the eyebrow- 
‘stripes and sides of head dul/ olive-brown ; a white band from 
the base of the upper mandible to the eye, and continued behind 
the eye along the sides of the neck ; the chin and throat white; 
and the rest of the under-parts white, barred with black, except 
down the middle of the body. Total length, 7°5 inches; wing, 
Apoeniaiy 17 tarsus, i3); ‘middie toe and claw, 1°15. 
Range.—Central America; Veragua. 
THE MEGAPODES, BRUSH-TURKEYS, AND 
MALEOS. FAMILY MEGAPODIID. 
Distinguished by having the hind toe or hallux oz the same 
level as the other toes, and its basal phalanx as long as that of 
the third toe. 
The oil-gland at the base of the tail zude. 
Eggs deposited in the sand or in a mound raised by one or 
more pairs of birds ; the young hatched fully feathered, with- 
‘out the intervention of the parent bird, and able to fly almost 
from birth. 
Dr. A. R. Wallace makes the following remarks on this in- 
teresting group of birds :— 
“The very peculiar habits of the whole family of the AZega- 
podiide, departing widely from those of all other birds, may 
also, I think, be shown to be almost the necessary results of 
certain peculiarities of organisation. These peculiarities are 
two—the size and the number of the eggs, and the nature of 
the food on which these birds subsist. Each egg being so 
large as to fill up the abdominal cavity and with difficulty 
pass the walls of the pelvis, a considerable interval must elapse 
before the succeeding ones can be matured. The number of 
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