August, while the condition of the oviduct showed that an egg had very recently passed; hence it is probable that, in spite of their great comparative size, one bird lays several; but whether each mound is resorted to by more than one pair, I had not the means of ascertaining. “Few birds are more wary and less easily procured than the _Megapodius_; it inhabits the belts of brush along the coast, and I never found the tumulus at a greater distance from the sea than a few hundred yards. When disturbed it seldom rises at once, unless on the margin of a thicket, but runs off to some distance and then takes to wing, flying heavily, but without any of the whirring noise of the true _Gallinaceæ_. It seldom takes a long flight, and usually perches on a tree, remaining there in a crouching attitude with outstretched neck, but flying off again upon observing any motion made by its pursuer; and it is only by cautiously creeping up under cover of the largest trees that it can be approached within gunshot. As an example of its shyness, I may mention that a party of three persons, scattered about in a small jungle on Nogo Island, for the purpose of shooting the _Megapodius_, did not see a single bird, although they put up several, one of which came towards me and perched, unconscious of my presence, within 20 yards. At Port Essington I have shot this bird among mangroves, the roots of which were washed by the sea at high water; and Capt. F. P. Blackwood killed one while running on the mud in a similar locality, in both instances close to a mound. I never witnessed the escape of the young from the mound; but one, as large as a quail, and covered with feathers, was brought to Lieut. Ince by a native, who affirmed that he had dug it out along with several eggs. “Iris yellowish brown; stomach a complete gizzard, being thick and muscular, containing small quartz pebbles, small shells (_Helix_ and _Bulimus_), and black seeds; intestine 34 inches in length, of the size of a goosequill, and nearly uniform in thickness, much twisted and contracted at intervals; cæcum slender, dilated at the extremity, and 4‑6/8 inches in length.” Family TINAMIDÆ?, _G. R. Gray_. Subfamily TURNICINÆ, _G. R. Gray_. Genus PEDIONOMUS, _Gould_. Generic characters. _Bill_ nearly as long as the head, straight, compressed towards the tip; _nostrils_ basal, placed in a groove, and protected by an operculum; _wings_ short and concave, first, second and third primaries equal in length; tertiaries longer than the primaries; _tail_ nearly obsolete; _tarsi_ elongated and defended in front with transverse scales; _toes_ four in number, the hinder one feeble and placed high on the tarsus.