SCRUB FOWL. 219 



with dark hair-like plumes ; chin and upper throat with very short blackish feathers ; 

 bill reddish-brown with yellow edges ; iris dark brown ; tarsi and feet bright 

 orange, the scales on the front of the tarsi from the fourth downwards and the scales 

 on the toes dark reddish-brown. Total length 450 mm. ; culmen, from hinder point 

 of nostril, 21, wing 275, tail 105, tarsus 65. 



Adult female (from the same locality). Similar in every respect to the plumage 

 to the male. Iris brown ; feet red. Total length 431 mm. ; culmen, from hinder 

 point of nostril, 20, wing 257, tail 106, tarsus 70. 



An adult female from Port Keats, Northern Territory, is in much abraded 

 plumage and evidently moulting after the breeding-season. Many of the feathers 

 of the wings and back are much worn and have paler margins which gives a more 

 or less barred appearance on the upper-surface. 



An adult male from Cape York is very similar to the adult male described above 

 in the distribution of colour, but every where much paler, the middle of the abdomen 

 is inclining to olive-brown ; the lower flanks, thighs and under tail-coverts deep 

 chestnut and inclining to maroon. Total length 455 mm. ; culmen 20, wing 266, 

 tail 105, tarsus 67. 



Immature female (from Bartle Frere, Queensland). Rich chestnut-brown on 

 the head, entire back, upper tail-coverts and wings, the latter showing the remains 

 of indistinct barrings and rufous margins on the edges and tips of the greater coverts 

 as shown in the nestling plumage. It is also distinguished from the adult by the 

 chestnut colour of the lower flanks, thighs and under tail-coverts ; quills and tail- 

 feathers blackish as in the adult ; bill and iris brown ; feet yellow. Total length 

 370 mm ; wing 234. 



Chick (from Port Keats, two weeks old). Dark reddish-brown on the head, 

 wings, lower back and tail ; the scapulars and wings show more or less distinct 

 brown and rufous bars ; hind-neck and upper mantle olive-brown ; sides of face 

 and lower throat lead-grey, becoming more or less whitish on the chin ; sides of 

 body and under wing-coverts lead -grey ; remainder of under-surface russet-brown ; 

 under aspect of tail conspicuously darker. 



Another chick, from Cedar Bay, Queensland, is similar to the above, but every- 

 where paler ; the hind -neck and upper mantle slate-grey, as also the lower throat, 

 the sides of the face paler and the chin whiter ; the under-surface pale rust-brown 

 or more less mixed with grey ; under aspect of tail not conspicuously darker than 

 under-surface. 



Nest or egg mound, usually of immense size, rotund in shape, occasionally 

 conical ; composed of loose, black vegetable mould or soil, mixed with sticks, leaves, 

 etc., if close to the beach the mound is chiefly sand and shells ; usually situated 

 within a few hundred yards of the sea-shore, and protected by thickly-foliaged 

 scrub or trees. Dimensions, about 20 feet in diameter at base, or a circumference 

 of about 60 feet ; height about 5 feet. 



Eggs. Clutch, or complement to a mound, variously stated, but probably 

 eight to ten ; long ellipse in shape, both ends being nearly alike ; texture of shell 

 coarse ; surface without gloss ; colour, pinkish or yellowish-buff, the outer or 

 beautiful pinkish-buff coating, when removed, shows the yellowish-buff. If both 

 colours are scratched off a whitish shell is revealed. Dimensions 84 to 92 mm. by 

 50-53. 



Breeding -season. October to February. 



Incubation-period. About six weeks. 



Distribution and forms. Owing to the individual variation (perhaps seasonal) 

 the forms of this species, which occurs in the Aru Islands, New Guinea and Northern 

 Australia are not well understood. At the present time four subspecies are indicated 

 with the possibility of more ; these are : Megapodius reinwardt reinwardt Dumont 

 from the Aru Islands ; M . r. tumulus Gould, from the Northern Territory, more 



