AVES. 
S2 
Order Gallinse. 
Faro. Megapodidae. 
Sub-faro. Megapodiroe, 
Gen. Mcgapodius. 
Megapodiiis 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 leathers 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 thaiTin 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 
Lahuan 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 fiat parts of the jungle, 
wdiere 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 tlie 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 
cauglit in the trap. In walking they lift up their feet very 
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 jumphig upon one another's backs, and scratching 
