90 
and four of them on being blown yielded nearly a pint and a half. 
Like those of the Megapodius they are covered with an epidermis- 
like coating, and are certainly as large, being three inches and three 
quarters in length, by two and a half in breadth ; they vary in colour 
from a very light brown to a light salmon. During the whole day 
we did not succeed in obtaining sight of the bird, although we saw 
numerous tracks of its feet, and many places where it had been 
scratching ; we also saw its tracks on the sand when crossing the dried 
beds of the swamps at least two miles from the breeding thicket, 
which proves that the bird, in procuring its food, does not confine 
itself to the brushes around its nest, but merely resorts to them for 
the purpose of incubating. The native informed us that the only 
chance of procuring the bird was by stationing ourselves in sight of 
the mound at a little distance, and remaining quiet and immoveable 
till it made its appearance at sun-down ; this I attempted, and, with 
the native, encamped within twenty yards of the mound about an 
hour before sunset, taking the precaution to conceal ourselves well 
with bushes from the quick eye of the bird, but leaving just a suffi- 
cient opening to get a fair sight with my gun ; in a half-sitting, half- 
crouching position I thus remained in breathless anxiety for the ap- 
proach of the bird I have so long wished to see, not daring to move 
a muscle, for fear of moving a branch or making a noise by crush- 
ing a dead leaf, till I was so cramped I could scarcely bear the pain 
in my limbs ; the bird did not however make its appearance, and the 
native, with the fear of wading through the thicket in darkness (for 
there was no moon), became so impatient, that he started up and be- 
gan to talk so loud and make so much noise, that I was compelled 
to give up all hopes of seeing the bird that night; however, just as 
we were passing the mound we started the bird from the opposite 
side, but from the denseness of the thicket and the darkness closing 
around us, I had no chance of getting a shot at it. Mr. Roe, the 
Surveyor-general, who examined several mounds during his expedi- 
tion to the interior in the year 1836, found the eggs nearly ready to 
hatch in the month of November, and invariably seven or eight in 
number ; while another authority has informed me of an instance of 
fourteen being taken from one mound.” 
In a subsequent letter Mr. Gilbert states that the flavour of the 
egg is very similar to that of the Tortoise or Turtle, and that when 
mixed with tea its similarity to the peculiar roughness and earthy 
flavour of that of the Hawk’s-bill Turtle is very remarkable. 
Genus Megapodius. 
The members of this genus inhabit all the Indian and Philippine 
islands and Australia. Mr. G. R. Gray informs me that “the fe- 
males of some species associate together in bands during the night 
and deposit their eggs in a cavity which they dig to the depth of 
two or three feet; that the successive deposits of eggs amount to a 
hundred or more and are left to be hatched by the solar rays ; that 
some cover them with sand and others with the remains of plants ; 
