420 CLASS XVI. 



To this order belong most of the species of birds domesticated 

 by man, and of which none, according to the Mosaic law, were 

 declared to be unclean. These birds live, for the most part, in 

 polygamy; they make a rude nest on the ground of straw and 

 fibres of plants, and lay many eggs. They feed principally on the 

 seeds of plants, which are softened in their crop before they are tri- 

 turated in the stomach or gizzard. The length of the middle 

 toe, and some other peculiarities, give to the gallinaceous birds a 

 remote resemblance to the vultures. 



Family XII. Megapodii. Bill short, curved at the tip; lower 

 mandible ascending at the tip. Wings moderate, rounded. Feet 

 strong, large, not spurred. Toes elongate, with hallux insistent. 

 Claws long, subcurved. Head and neck covered with thinly 

 scattered feathers. Tail with twelve feathers. 



Megapodius TEMM., QUOY and GAIM. Bill depressed at the 

 base, with tip curved, vaulted ; margin of upper mandible contracted 

 in the middle. Nostrils pervious, oval, placed in a broad groove. 

 Occiput subcrested. Tarsi covered anteriorly with a single row of 

 large scutes. Middle and inner toes conjoined at the base by a 

 small membrane. Wings with third and fourth quills longest of 

 all. Tail short, in great part concealed by wings. 



Sp. Megapodius Freycineti GAIM., Voyage de FVranie, Zoologie, vi. PI. 32, 

 TEMM. PL color. PI. 220; entirely black ; Celebes, Amboyna; Megapodius 

 Duperreyi LESSON, DUPERREY Voy. de la Coqidlle, Zool. PI. 36, LESS. 

 OrnitJi. PI. 87, fig. i, GUR. Iconogr., Ois. PI. 57, fig. 4; New Guinea; 

 Megapodius rubripes TEMM, PL color. 411 ; New Guinea and Celebes; this 

 species is very similar to the preceding ; both are lead-coloured on the neck 

 and breast, and have dun-red brown wings. These birds lay very large, 

 dirty- white eggs, smaller at both ends, which they do not brood but cover 

 under the sand with dead leaves. 



Note. Genus Alecthelia LESS, to be abolished; it is founded upon a 

 young bird of Megapodius. 



Leipoa GOULD. Bill depressed at the base, with tip curved, 

 vaulted. Nostrils lateral, placed in a groove of bill, surrounded by 

 membrane. Tarsi covered anteriorly with a double row of scutes. 

 Hallux somewhat short. Middle and inner toes connected at the 

 base by a small membrane. Wings with fifth quill longest of all. 

 Tail long, rounded, flat. Orbital region naked. 



