Megapodius cumingii Dillwyn, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1851), 119, pl. 39.
Megapodius pusillus Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1877), 765,
pl. 78 (juv.).
Megapodius dillwyni Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1877), 766.
Megapodius cumingi Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1893), 22, 449;
Meyer and Wiglesworth, Birds of Celebes (1898), 2, 671, pl. 41,
fig. 1; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 12; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs
(1901), 1, 16; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 7.
Ou-cong', Calayan, Camiguin N.; ta-bon', Luzon, Mindoro,
Cagayancillo, and in general.
Balabac (Steere, Everett); Bantayan (McGregor); Basilan (Steere,
Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Cagayancillo (McGregor);
Calayan (McGregor); Camiguin N. (McGregor); Cebu (Everett, Bourns &
Worcester); Cresta de Gallo (McGregor); Fuga (Whitehead, McGregor);
Luzon (Cuming, Heriot, Whitehead); Marinduque (Steere Exp.);
Mindanao (Steere, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester,
Goodfellow); Mindoro (McGregor, Porter); Palawan (Everett,
Lempriere, Whitehead, Platen, Bourns & Worcester, White); Romblon
(Bourns & Worcester); Samar (Bourns & Worcester); Sibutu (Everett);
Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Bourns & Worcester, Platen);
Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao
(McGregor). Celebean Islands and islands of northwestern Borneo.
Adult.--Top of head dark blue-gray with a wash of olive-brown; a narrow
gray collar on hind neck; rest of upper parts, including exposed parts
of folded wing, rich olive-brown; lower parts dark blue-gray. Iris
brown; bill yellow, dusky at base and about nostrils; legs and nails
black or dark brown; skin about eye varies from bright red to almost
black. A male from Cagayancillo measures, 340 in length; wing, 230;
tail, 72.4; tarsus, 62; middle toe with claw, 57; bill from nostril,
14. A female from the same island measures, 340 in length; wing, 235;
tail, 70; tarsus, 58; middle toe with claw, 57; bill from nostril, 14.
Young.--A bird measuring but 165 in length, taken in Calayan, October
7, 1903, bears a general resemblance to the adult but the superorbital
space, lores, chin, and throat are closely feathered; forehead, chin,
and area below eye dull yellowish brown; throat, sides of neck, and
breast dull brown; middle of abdomen dark ochraceous brown; feathers
of upper parts dark brown, obscurely edged with olive-brown on back,
scapulars, and wing-coverts; plumage, except remiges and rectrices,
soft and decomposed.
Nest.--The incubation mound built by this species is fully described
below. The eggs are prized by the natives for food; both the eggs and
the birds are quite palatable. When fresh the thin surface layer of the
egg is dark pink, usually smooth, but occasionally roughened by small
lumps; when exposed to air and light for some time the color becomes
dull, dirty brown and in many cases the outer layer crumbles away
exposing the true shell which is dull white and closely pitted. Five
eggs from Calayan taken in December measure: 78 by 52; 82 by 52.5;
82.5 by 47; 80 by 51; 79 by 51.
"This species probably occurs on every island of any size in the
group. It is frequently met with a considerable distance inland,
where it frequents wooded plains and hill. Its nest is usually,
though by no means always, built near the seashore. Several pairs
of birds frequently nest in the same mound, scratching up a little
additional material every time that an egg is deposited, eventually
forming a very large mound of earth, decayed leaves, sticks, etc.,
which in extreme cases comes to measure from 4 to 5 meters in diameter
by 1 1/2 meters high in the middle. The mound is frequently formed
about the roots of some old stump. When ready to lay, the female
tunnels into this mound, sometimes even burrowing into the solid
ground to a depth of half a meter or more, so that the eggs are one
to two meters below the surface of the mound. The egg is deposited at
the bottom of this burrow, which is then filled up. The young birds
dig to the surface as soon as hatched. They can run and fly when
they leave the shell, and seem always to shift for themselves from
the day of their birth. M. cumingi seems to lay all the year round,
the female apparently depositing an egg about once a week. The eggs
are oval in form, of a curious pinkish color when fresh, but rapidly
fading to a light dirty brown if exposed to the light.
"The old birds seem rather reluctant to take wing and when flushed fly
but a short distance, alight on the ground and run with great rapidity.
"There is much individual variation as to size and color even in birds
from one locality. Length, 336 to 380; culmen, 15 to 19; tarsus, 55
to 68; wing, 210 to 233; tail, 63 to 86. Iris dark chocolate-brown;
bill light yellowish at tip, brown at base; legs sometimes dark brown,
but usually strongly tinged with red, especially at back; feet dark
brown to black; nails black." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Suborder PHASIANI.
Family PHASIANIDÆ.
Bill strong and horny, nostrils oblong, never hidden by feathers;
culmen curved but not hooked; tarsi naked and in the male armed with
spurs (Excalfactoria without spurs); toes four, naked, and never
pectinated along sides; sexes differently colored.
Genera.
a1 Much smaller; length less than 150 mm.; head without crest or comb;
spurs absent ... Excalfactoria (p. 12)
a2 Much larger; length more than 350 mm.; head crested or with a comb;
spurs present in the male.
b1. No crest but with a fleshy comb; tail-coverts without ocelli;
male with one pair of spurs ... Gallus (p. 13)
b2. No comb but with an elongated crest; longer tail-coverts
ocellated; male with two or three pairs of spurs ... Polyplectron
(p. 16)
Genus EXCALFACTORIA Bonaparte, 1856.
This genus resembles Turnix but is distinguished from it by having
a hind toe; the male is much handsomer than the female; the tail has
but eight short rectrices which are hidden by the long upper coverts.