32 AVES. 



Order Gallinae. 

 Fam. Megapodidaj. 



Sub-fam. Megapodinne. 

 Gen. Megapodius. 



Megapodius Cumingii. 

 Menamban (Malay name). 



Olivaceous brown above ; blackish slate-colour with a slight 

 olivaceous tinge, below ; the feathers on the throat and nape are 

 thinly dispersed, so as to leave that part nearly bare ; on the hind 

 head the feathers are somewhat lengthened, forming a kind of crest ; 

 bill black at the base, yellowish towards the tip ; legs, feet, and 

 claws black ; the bare skin about the head is redder in the cock- 

 bird than in the hen. 



Length, from tip of the bill to the end of the tail, about 14 inches. 



of bill from gape, 1 inch 1 line. 



of bill from front, 10 lines. 



of wings, 8^ inches. 



of tail, not quite 3 inches. 



of tarsus, 2 inches 1 line. 



of middle toe, 1 inch 11 lines. 



of hallux, 1 inch 5 lines. 

 The front toes are nearly equal, the middle toe being rather the 

 longest, and the inner one the shortest. 



Some specimens of these birds are in the British Museum, 

 to which they were presented by Mr. Cuming, having been 

 collected by that gentleman in the Philippine Islands. In 

 Labuan they are not uncommon, and are said to be principally 

 confined to small islands, to such more especially as have 

 sandy beaches ; they are very rarely to be seen, being ex- 

 tremely shy and frequenting dense and flat parts of the jungle, 

 where the ratans grow, and where the luxuriance of the vege- 

 tation renders concealment easy. The Malays snare them by 

 forming long thick fences in unfrequented parts of the jungle, 

 in which at certain intervals they leave openings where they 

 place traps ; the birds run through the jungle in search of 

 food, and coming to this fence, run along it till they find one 

 of the openings, through which they push their way and are 

 caught in the trap. In walking they lift up their feet A'ery 

 high, and set up their backs something like Guinea fowls ; 

 they frequently make a loud noise like the screech of a chicken 

 when caught ; they are very pugnacious, and fight with great 

 fury by jumping upon one another's backs, and scratching 



