1861.] MR. G. R. GRAY ON THE MEGAPODES. 295 



shell, scratches its way out of the heap without any assistance, and 

 when free, just shakes off the material of which the heap had been 

 composed, and then runs off to the thickets, &c., and commences 

 seeking its food without any hesitation, by scratching and turning 

 up the earth or debris that lie on it, like an old bird. Each bird is 

 fully fledged on its first appearance. This latter circumstance has 

 caused some collectors and ornithologists to suppose these young 

 birds to be the adult state of a species ; and the idea has occasioned 

 the establishment of the generic appellation of Alecthelia, with 

 the specific name of urvillii. Less. This name has been attached 

 to all the specimens of young birds sent from various localities, 

 though in colour and markings they differ from each other, but re- 

 tain somewhat of the colour of the parents. Thus, 21. freycineti 

 and M. quoyi are of a sooty-black colour, with the cheeks and throat 

 of a pale ochraceous colour ; but the markings differ in each species : 

 the former has the wing-coverts margined, and all the quills banded, 

 with pale ochre-colour ; in the latter, however, it is only irregularly 

 banded on the tertials and lower part of the back. On the other 

 hand, the young of M. reinwardtii and 31. tumulus are of a rufous 

 colour ; the former has the back of the neck and nape greyish 

 brown, throat ochraceous white, breast and beneath the body 

 greyish ochraceous Avith a buff spot on the abdomen, quills fus- 

 cous, wing-coverts and tertials margined with deep rufous, feet 

 pale. The latter species is very similar, but appears to be more de- 

 cidedly margined on the wing-coverts and tertials with pale rufous, 

 conveying the appearance of bands ; throat rufous ochre ; and be- 

 neath the body of a somewhat darker colour than in the previous 

 example. These differences between the young and adult birds are 

 so strongly marked, that even Mr. Wallace states, with regard to one 

 sent home by him, that "he is convinced it is an adult bird," "as 

 it is considered to be by the natives of Aru." 



The egg is remarkably large when on the point of being laid (mea- 

 suring from 3^ to 4{ inches in length, and 2 to 2^ inches in width, 

 weighing 8 or 9 ounces) ; it consequently fills i^p, says Mr. Wallace, 

 the lower cavity of the body, squeezing the intestines so that it 

 seemed impossible for anything to pass through them ; while the 

 ovary contained from eight to ten eggs about the size of small peas, 

 which must evidently require somewhere about the time named 

 (thirteen days the natives assert) for their successive development. 

 A considerable interval, says Mr. Wallace, " must elapse before the 

 succeeding one can be matured. The number of eggs which a bird 

 produces each season seems to be about eight;" so that, if this sup- 

 position is correct, " an interval of three months must pass between 

 the laying of the first and last egg." 



The eggs vary from white to cream- or pale salmon-colour. Some 

 eggs are often covered with an epidermis of a dirty-brown colour, 

 which easily chips off, exposing the proper colour of the egg. 



The birds place the egg upright in their mounds or other places, 

 so that the egg may obtain the heat equally on all sides — as other 

 birds, which sit on their eggs, continually turn them, so that each 



