676 
Birds of Celebes: Megapodidae. 
Egg. Similar to that of M. cumingi'. 81 X 48, 77 X 48.7, 78 X 48 mm (Karkellang, Nov. 
Nat. Coll.) 
Megapodes appear to be much more common in Sangi and Talaut than on 
the mainland of Celebes, and they follow the rule in showing an increase in size. 
On Huang, which is merely a volcano rising from the sea close to Tagulandang, 
Dr. Hickson says: “The maleos seemed to be here quite tame, for they would 
calmly watch us from the branches of the trees until we got within thirty or 
forty yards of them, and then only, slowly and clumsily flew on a few yards 
further”. As already mentioned, M. cumingi also seems to thrive better on small 
islands than on the adjacent mainland. 
Of the 9 specimens collected by our native hunters in Kabruang and 
Karkellang 7 have the head feathered above, the other two bald, with a stripe of 
the feathers down the middle; the latter are marked by the hunters as males, 
3 of the former as females, and it may possibly be a seasonal difference of a 
sexual nature. 14 further specimens arrived from Karkellang in 1897. 
* 289. MEGAPODIUS BERNSTEINI Selil. 
Sula Megapode. 
Megapodius bensteini (1) Schl., Ned. Tdschr. Dierk. 1866, IH, 251, 261; (2) Gray, HL. II, 
1870, 255; (3) Schl., Mas. P.-B., Megapod., 1880, 63; (4) OustaL, Ann. Sc. Nat 
1881, XI, 137; (5) Grant, Cat B. 1893, XXTT , 450. 
Descriptions. Schlegel 1, 5; Oustalet 4; Grant 5. 
Diagnosis. Eesemhles M. cumingi of Celebes, but differs by its reddish feet (not black), by 
the clear brown-reddish of its plumage (darker and duller in the Celebes bird), the 
under-parts, sides of head and hind neck blackish grey (Schlegel 1). 
Measurements. Wing 179—212 mm; tail 60—73; hill 14—16; tarsus 52—59; middle toe 41 
(Oustalet 4). 
Distribution. Sula Islands: Sula Mangoli (Bernstein 5, Hoedt 5), Sula Besi (Hoedt 3, 
Teijsmann 5). 
In his treatment of the Megapodes the great German ornithologist at Leyden, 
Schlegel, made a curious departure from his usual plan of allowing only 
strikingly characterised forms to rank as species, some of the differences between 
the Megapode species admitted by him being very slight. This step may have 
been due to the consideration that the Megapodes are stationary and locally 
isolated from another, under which condition racial differences arise. All of the 
species admitted by Schlegel are accounted valid by Dr. Oustalet in his 
“Monographie des Megapodiides”. 
The Sulan bird seems to be easily distinguishable. Schlegel grouped the 
Megapodes into two subdivisions according to their having pale or blackish 
feet, and M. hernsteini belongs to the former group, the Celebesian and Sangi 
species to the other. 
