Notes on a Bird called Malau

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 17, 1884, Page 452

2. “Notes on a Bird called Malan,” by the Rev. S. W. Baker. Abstract The bird Malau was stated to be found only on the little island Ninafou, to the northward of Tonga. It is confined to the immediate vicinity of a deep crater-like lake. In the light soil surrounding the lake it excavates tunnels sometimes six feet in length, and in them deposits its eggs, which are sometimes as many as twenty in number. The bird does not sit upon the eggs, but leaves them to be hatched by the heat of the sun. The young birds are fully fledged when they emerge from the egg, and take care of themselves without any assistance from the parent bird. Mr. Cheeseman stated that Mr. Baker's bird was a species of mound-builder called Megapodius pritchardi. A specimen was in the Museum, which was presented some years ago by Captain Rough; and a coloured drawing would be found in the “Proceedings of the Zoological Society” for 1864. (See also Dr. Buller's account of this specimen under the name of Malan. Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. iii., p. 14.)