32 



upper side of neck fleshy white. (Although absent in this specimen, most examples have a patch of white 

 covering the basal part of the primaries and secondaries, the extent varying in almost every individual. 

 Some also have white markings on the upper tail-coverts and basal part of the tail-feathers, whilst in others 

 again the bare neck-space inclines to red.*) Extreme length, 11*5 inches ; wing, from flexure, 7'5 ; tail, 2*5 • 

 bill, along the ridge, 5 ; along the edge of lower mandible, 1 ; tarsus, 2 ; middle toe and claw, 2 ; hind toe 

 and claw, 1*75. 



Plumage soft but compact ; wings, short and rounded, indicating very feeble powers of flight ; legs 

 strongly formed ; toes furnished with ample claws ; middle and outer toes nearly equal ; inner toe '5 of an 

 inch shorter. 



I am able now to add a description of the young, of which a figure is given in the accom- 

 panying plate : — The whole of the plumage dull chocolate-brown, much paler on the throat and 

 abdomen ; the mantle and upper wing-coverts varied with transverse wavy markings of yellowish- 

 brown and black. In another specimen, which I have presented to the British Museum, the 

 throat and abdomen, as well as the crissum, are pale yellowish-brown, and the markings on the 

 upper surface are much lighter. 



On my last visit to the Tonga group, in 1897, I heard a good deal about this solitary Island- 

 Megapode, and obtained from Captain Smith a slightly damaged specimen of its egg. In the end 

 I succeeded in getting into communication with Mr. B. W. Hamilton, a resident on the island of 

 Nuiafoou, and with this gentleman's kind aid I obtained a beautiful series of both sexes and all 

 ages, preserved in spirit, besides a number of eggs, showing a remarkable gradation of colour. But 

 before asking Mr. Hamilton to do me this service I found it necessary to get a " permit " from 

 the King of Tonga. At the instance of his Premier (the Eev. S. Baker) the King had, some 

 years before, placed the bird under his special protection by proclaiming it tapu, the eggs being- 

 regarded as a great delicacy, and distinguished by the natives as "King's food." Here I also 

 invoked the assistance of my old friend and schoolfellow, the Bev. J. Watkin, chaplain to the 

 King, who explained that the birds were required for scientific purposes ; he had then no difficulty 

 in obtaining the required permission, which was granted freely and without any limitation. 



At my request Mr. Hamilton committed to writing all the information he could give me, and 

 as his notes are very interesting, I offer no apology for reproducing them here, in extenso : — 



The Malau differs from most other Megapodes in this respect, that, so far as I have been able to observe, 

 it is not a ' mound builder,' but a ' digger.' It is not by any means plentiful on the Island, although it was 

 more often seen before the volcanic eruption here in August, 1876. It is also a very shy bird. 



This island (Nuiafoou) is very small, being about twenty miles in circumference, having a large lake 

 in the centre, the lake being from 2£ to 3 miles in diameter. It is in the interior of the island, in the black 

 sand around the lake, that the Malau chiefly lays her egg. The bird does not choose the flats but generally 

 fairly steep faces, and at some distance above the level of the lake. The bird digs or scrapes a hole in the 

 sand, lays the egg, and then refills the hole ; the next bird excavates, then raises the egg already laid, and 

 deposits its own egg underneath ; and so on, till there may be as many as sixteen eggs in the one hole, the 

 first laid egg being always on the top and the freshest egg always at the bottom. If one of the holes is 

 discovered, its course is very easy to follow, as the sand there is free, and it is always considerably warmer 

 than the surrounding soil. If this warmth be absent, one may be quite certain that the hole is deserted 

 and that no eggs will be found. The heat must be generated when the birds are in the hole, as of course the 

 volcanic heat would be the same in the surrounding sand. There is no sign whatever of any decaying 

 vegetable matter. The eggs seem to require very little extra heat or care to incubate them, as I have had 



* Never having had the opportunity of examining a fresh bird, I wrote to Mr. Hamilton for information on this 

 point, and he replied : " The colour varies from a dirty flesh-colour to a dull reddish colour in the male bird. There is 

 never any decided red tinge on the neck of the female Malau, nor is there any very bright colour on the neck of the 

 male — only a dull, dead, red colour." 



