_Evolutionary history._--The genus _Megapodius_ consists, according to Peters (1934:1-7), of nine species which are distributed through the islands from the Philippines and Borneo to Australia and Melanesia. These have been redesignated under three specific names by Mayr (1938). Outlying forms occur in the Nicobar Group to the west and in Tonga (Niuafou Island) in the east and in the Palaus and Marianas to the extreme northeast. Lister (1911:757) is of the opinion that the megapodes may have reached these outlying islands by having been transported by the natives, by whom the eggs were highly valued as food. This idea is also maintained by Rutland (1896:29-30) and Christian (1926:260). Possibility and not factual evidence support this hypothesis. From their seeming ancestral stocks, _M. pritchardii_ Gray of Niuafou Island and _M. lapérouse_ of Micronesia are remarkably distinct which may indicate their early arrival at these islands and subsequent change from their ancestral stocks. Like _M. pritchardii_, the Micronesian species is smaller than its relatives to the southwest and has short, rather rounded wings, although its feet are heavily built whereas those of _M. pritchardii_ are lightly constructed. In comparing these birds with the species of megapode found in the Philippines, Celebes and Melanesia, it seems that both _M. pritchardii_ and _M. Lapérouse_ are closely related to the widespread species, _M. freycinet_, which may have been ancestral to both. The differences between _M. prichardii_ and _M. lapérouse_ indicate that they represent independent invasions. Nevertheless these megapodes may have had a wider range in Oceania in former times; man may have eliminated the birds from some islands by using their eggs. The eggs are laid in conspicuous mounds which are easily found by man. _M. lapérouse_ differs from _M. freycinet_ of New Guinea and other parts of Melanesia and the Philippines; its small size, short wing and pearl gray head are distinctive characters. It shows greatest resemblance to the subspecies in Celebes (_M. f. gilberti_) in size and to the subspecies in the Moluccas (_M. f. freycinet_) in coloring; possibly _M._ _lapérouse_ represents stock from one of these regions. Apparently the group as a whole evolved from a center of dispersal in the New Guinea area. Mayr (1942b:167) regarded all the species of _Megapodius_ as belonging to one polytypic species, except _M. lapérouse_ and _M. pritchardii_, which are allopatric species. =Coturnix chinensis lineata= (Scopoli) Painted Quail _Oriolus lineatus_ Scopoli, Del. Flor. et Faun. Insubr., fasc. 2, 1786, p. 87. (Type locality, Luzon, _ex_ Sonnerat.)