1864.] MR. G. R. GRAY ON A NEW MEGAPODE. 41 
February 9, 1864. 
John Gould, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair. 
Mr. Tegetmeier exhibited experiments in a new mode of pinioning 
wild birds, by which they might be prevented from injuring their 
plumage. 
The following papers were read :— 
1. On 4 New Species or Mecarope. By G. R. Gray. 
(Plate VI.) 
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. (PI. VI.) 
Young female. Slaty black+, 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 toes 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 a volcanic origin, and 
peculiarly 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 rei- 
terated 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 
* Onooafow, or Proby Island, or Hope Island, or Good Hope Island. 
+ Mr. Bennett says, ‘of an uniform blackish-brown colour.” While Mr. Prit- 
chard remarks it to be “ of a brownish blue.” 
