378 Zoological Society : — 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Feb. 9, 1864.— John Gould, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair. 



On a New Species of Megapode. By G. R. Gray. 



I have had placed in my hands a specimen of a bird (preserved in 

 spirits) from the Island of Nina Fou*, which, on examination, has 

 proved to be a new species of the remarkable genus Megapodius. 

 The specific characters are as follows : — 



Megapodius Pritchardii. 



Young female. Slaty black f, with the base of most of the fea- 

 thers white ; wings (imperfect, the quills having been mostly cut 

 away) with the first quill fuscous black ; the rest are apparently white, 

 probably fuscous black at their tips ; upper tail-coverts white ; tail 

 fuscous black ; abdomen pale fuscous black or slaty ; cheeks and 

 upper part of the neck vermilion-red, slightly feathered with small 

 scattered black plumes ; bill bright yellow ; tarsi and toea pale yel- 

 low ; claws blackish lead-colour. 



Length, from tip of bill to end of tail, 12 or 13 inches. 



The specimen from which the description was taken was obtained 

 by Mr. W. T. Pritchard at Nina Fou, which island is situated about 

 halfway between the Feejee Islands and the Samoan Islands, and is 

 far removed to the northward of the Friendly or Tonga Islands, yet 

 it is considered to form part of this latter group. This somewhat 

 isolated island is said to be of small size, of volcanic origin, and pe- 

 culiarly liable to eruptions and earthquakes. The natives informed 

 him that the bird " laid 200 eggs, and piled them one above another 

 in the shape of a pyramid, the last egg forming the apex." This 

 statement Mr. Pritchard " hesitated to believe ; but the natives re- 

 iterated it." The bird lives in the bush, runs very fast, and does not 

 fly any distance at a time. 



It so happens that the Nina Fou bird was lately recorded in the 

 * Proceedings of the Zoological Society' (1862, p. 247), from infor- 

 mation obtained by Mr. Bennett of Capt. M'^Leod, who stated that 

 the bird was known to the natives by the name of " Mallow ;" and it 

 lives in the scrubs in the centre of the island, about the margin of a 

 large lagoon of brackish water, which has the appearance of having 

 been an extinct crater ; the birds lay their eggs on one side only of 

 the lagoon, where the soil is composed of a sulphur-looking sand ; 

 the eggs are deposited from 1 to 2 feet beneath the surface. 



This latter account is in accordance with the known habits of 

 several of the species of this genus, and Mr. Pritchard was right in 

 doubting the correctness of the marvellous and most improbable story 

 related to him by the natives. It is only by the permission of the 

 king or chief that the eggs or birds can be procured, which is also 

 the case in other localities. 



* Onooafow, or Proby Island, or Hope Island, or Good Hope Island, 

 t Mr. Bennett says, " of an uniform blackish-brown colour." While Mr. Prit- 

 chard remarks it to be " of a brownish blue." 



