Ixxviii 
INTRODUCTION. 
" Few birds are more wary and less easily procured than the Megapodius ; it inhabits the belts of brush along 
the coast, and I never found the tumulus at a greater distance from the sea than a few hundred yards. When 
disturbed it seldom rises at once, unless on the margin of a thicket, but runs off to some distance and then takes to 
wing, flying heavily, but without any of the whirring noise of the true Gallinaceai. It seldom takes a long flight, 
and usually perches on a tree, remaining there in a crouching attitude with outstretched neck, but flying off again 
upon observing any motion made by its pursuer ; and it is only by cautiously creeping up under cover of the 
largest trees that it can be approached within gmishot. As an example of its shyness, I may mention that a party 
of three persons, scattered about in a small jungle on Nogo Island, for the purpose of shooting the Megapodius, did 
not see a single bird, although they put up several, one of which came towards me and perched, unconscious of my 
presence, within 20 yards. At Port Essington I have shot this bird among mangroves, the roots of which were 
washed by the sea at high Avater ; and Capt. F. P. Blackwood killed one while running on the mud in a similar 
locality, in both instances close to a mound. I never witnessed the escape of the young from the mound ; but one, 
as large as a quail, and covered with feathers, was brought to Lieut. Ince by a native, who affirmed that he had 
dug it out along with several eggs. 
" Iris yellowish brown ; stomach a complete gizzard, being thick and muscular, containing small quartz 
pebbles, small shells (^Helix and Bulimus), and black seeds ; intestine 34 inches in length, of the size of a goose- 
quill, and nearly uniform in thickness, much twisted and contracted at intervals ; csecum slender, dilated at the 
extremity, and 4|- inches in length." 
Family TINAMIDJ5 ?, G. R. Gray. 
Siibfemlly TURNICIN^, G. R. Gray. 
Genus Pedionomus, Gould. 
Generic characters. 
Bill nearly as long as the head, straight, compressed towards the tip ; nostrils basal, placed in a groove, and 
protected by an operculum ; ivings short and concave, first, second and third primaries equal in length ; tertiaries 
longer than the primaries ; tail nearly obsolete ; tarsi elongated and defended in front with transverse scales ; toes 
four in number, the hinder one feeble and placed high on the tarsus. 
Few of the discoveries I made in Australia interested me more than that of the species forming the subject of 
the present genus, and of which during my sojourn in the country I only obtained a male. Subsequently Mr. 
Strange sent me another example, which from its much larger size and the circumstance of its neck being adorned 
with a beautiful collar of mingled black and white feathers, I considered a distinct species and characterized it as 
such, under the name P. torquatus, and assigned that of microurus to the males or birds destitute of the collar, an 
error which the observations of Sir George Grey and Mr. Strange have enabled me to rectify, and which shows 
that this bird is another of the anomalies so often met with in Australia, since, contrary to the general rule, the 
female is a far finer and more conspicuously-coloured bird than her mate. 
" You ask me," says Sir George Grey, " to tell you something about Pedionomus. There is but one species ; 
you have described two, P. torquatus and P. microurus ; the former is the female and the latter is the male. We 
have now three of these birds in confinement, all similar to your P. torquatus. We had four ; the fourth, which 
died, was like your P. microurus ; and was certainly a male ; they were all caught in the same net, hence I infer 
that several females associate with one male. 
" We have had several of these birds in confinement at different times ; they eat pounded wheat, raw and 
boiled rice, bread and flies ; the latter appear to be their favourite food. They soon become perfectly tame ; the 
three now in our possession we have had for upwards of four months. 
" These birds are migratory ; they appear at Adelaide in June and disappear about January ; where they go 
has not yet been ascertained. They never fly if they can avoid so doing, and are often caught by dogs ; when 
disturbed, they crouch down and endeavour to hide themselves in a tuft of grass. When running about they are 
