SCRUB FOWL. 
Adult female (from the same locality). Similar in every respect to the plumage to the 
male. “ Iris brown ; feet red ” (J. T, Tunney). Total length, 431 mm. ; culmen from 
hinder point of nostril, 20 ; wing, 257 ; tail, 106 ; tarsus, 70. 
An adult female from Port Keats, Northern Territory, received from Mr. Edwin 
Ashby’s collection, is in much abraded plumage and evidently moulting after the 
breeding season. Many of the feathers of the wings and back are much worn and have 
paler margins which gives a more or less barred appearance on the upper-surface. 
An adult male from Cape York is very similar to the adult male described above in the 
distribution of colour, but everywhere much paler, the middle of the abdomen is inclin- 
ing to olive-brown; the lower flanks, thighs and under tail-coverts deep chestnut and 
inclining to maroon. Total length, 455 mm. ; culmen, 20 ; wing, 266 ; tail, 105 ; 
tarsus, 67. 
Immature female (from Bartle Frere, Queensland). Rich chestnut-brown on the head, 
entire back, upper tail-coverts and wings, the latter showing the remains of indistinct 
barrings and rufous margins on the edges and tips of the greater coverts as shown in 
the nestling -plumage. It is also distinguished from the adult by the chestnut colour 
of the lower flanks, thighs and under tail-coverts ; quills and tail-feathers blackish 
as in the adult. “Bill and iris brown; feet yeUow” (E. Olive). Total length, 
370 mm. ; wing, 234. 
Chick (from Port Keats, two weeks old, received from Mr. Edwin Ashby’s collection). 
Dark reddish-brown on the head, wings, lower back and tail ; the scapulars and wings 
show more or less distinct brown and rufous bars ; hind-neck and upper mantle olive- 
brown ; sides of face and lower throat lead-grey, becoming more or less whitish on 
the chin ; sides of body and under wing-coverts lead-grey; remainder of under-surface 
russet-brown ; under aspect of tail conspicuously darker. 
Another chick, from Cedar Bay, Queensland, is similar to the above, but everywhere 
paler ; the hind-neck and upper mantle slate-grey, as also the lower throat, the sides 
of the face paler and the chin whiter ; the under-surface pale rust-brown more or less 
mixed with grey ; under aspect of tail not conspicuously darker than under-surface. 
I have described an adult male from the Northern Territory and Cape York, as these 
latter may, with more material, be separated as Megapodius duperreyi assimilis Masters. 
Nest “ or egg mound, usually of immense size, rotund in shape, occasionally conical ; com- 
posed of loose, black vegetable mould or soil, mixed with sticks, leaves, etc., if close 
to the beach the mound is chiefly sand and shells ; usually situated within a few 
hundred yards of the sea-shore, and protected by thickly-foliaged scrub or trees. 
Dimensions, about 20 feet in diameter at base, or a circumference of about 60 feet ; 
height about 5 feet ” (Campbell). 
Eggs. “ Clutch or complement to a mound, variously stated, but probably eight to ten ; 
long elhpse in shape, both ends being nearly ahke ; texture of shell coarse ; surface 
without gloss ; colour, pinkish or yellowish buff, the outer or beautiful pinkish buff 
coating, when removed, shows the yellowish buff. If both colours are scratched off 
a whitish shell is revealed. Dimensions in inches 3.62 to 3.33 by 2.1 to 1.98 ” (Cajpp- 
bell). 
Breeding season. October to February (Ramsay). 
Incubation-period. About six weeks (Le Souef). 
As pointed out by Dr. Hartert,* the Australian bird differs from the New Guinea 
one by its darker and more rufous upperside and larger size. 
Dr. Ramsay, speaking of this bird in Queensland, says ; — “ This mound- 
raiser is very plentiful north after passing Port Denison ; I found it also 
* Nov. Zool., XII., p. 195. 
37 
