316 



CRAClDiE. 



Slaty lead-coloured Megapodius, with the wings and tail darker; 

 the body beneath paler; the beak horn-colour; the legs and 

 claws deep black. 



Inhabits the Islands of Papua, New Guinea, &c. 

 Length about thirteen or fourteen inches : the tail is 

 short, rounded at its tip : the feathers of the occiput 

 are rather long and more tufted than those on the 

 sides of the head : the small feathers on the upper 

 part of the neck are open, and expose a naked red- 

 dish skin between them : all these feathers are of a 

 slate or leaden colour, and those of the wings and 

 tail the same, but darker : that of the under parts 

 rather lighter : the beak is clear horn-colour : and 

 the legs and claws are deep black. 



The eggs of this species are large in proportion 

 to the size of the bird, being three inches in length ; 

 they are of an equal thickness at each end, and are of 

 a clear red : they are deposited on the sea coasts in 

 the cavities of the sand. 



N. B. M. Temminck mentions two other species 

 of this genus, but they appear to be undescribed. 



Peculiar circumstances have prevented me from 

 furnishing my readers with a figure of this and three 

 or four other genera of birds, of which no specimens 

 are to be found in any of the public collections in 

 this country, and which have not hitherto been de- 

 scribed in any English works. 



