230 GALLING MEGAPODID^E. 



membrane clothed with small feathers. The head 

 and neck are well feathered, except a naked space 

 around the eye. The feet are large and strong, 

 placed far backwards ; the tarsus large, long, and 

 covered with large scales; the hind toe resting 

 wholly on the ground ; the claws are very long 

 and robust, flattened above, little curved, blunt 

 at the point. The wings are rounded and hollow ; 

 the tail small, wedge-shaped ; composed of twelve 

 feathers. 



The most interesting species known is that 

 called by the colonists at Port Essington in North 

 Australia, the Jungle-fowl (Megapodius tumulus, 

 GOULD), which is about as large as a common 

 fowl. Its upper parts are of a bright red-brown ; 

 the tail blackish ; the under parts dark grey ; the 

 head is furnished with a long recumbent crest. It 

 is known to be spread over the Cobourg Penin- 

 sula, and will probably be found to range over 

 the whole northern region of the Australian con- 

 tinent. 



It is to the researches of Mr. John Gilbert that 

 we are indebted for our knowledge of this sin- 

 gular bird's economy. On his arrival at Port 

 Essington many great mounds of earth were 

 pointed out to him, which were supposed by the 

 colonists to be tumuli of the aborigines, but 

 which the natives asserted to be formed by the 

 Jungle-fowl, for the purpose of hatching its eggs. 

 To ascertain the truth, Mr. Gilbert accompanied 

 an intelligent native to an unfrequented spot of 

 the coast, where he soon found a mound on the 

 beach, composed of sand and shells, of a conical 

 form, twenty feet in circumference at the base, 

 and about five feet high. The native asserted 



