Molt.—Birds taken in August, September and November were molting body feathers. Birds taken in December were molting wing feathers.
Food habits.—Takatsukasa (1932:16) comments, "My collector reports to me that this bird diets on insects and tender shoots which it gets from under the soil by scratching with its large and powerful feet." According to Captain Tetens, as noted by Takatsukasa, the food of the bird consists of insects and berries. Birds taken by the NAMRU2 party had the following food items in their stomachs: adult female—2 cc. seeds, grit; adult female—3 cc. crab parts, grit; adult female—2 cc. seeds, sand; male chick—1 cc. ground food, grit; female chick—1 cc. ground food, grit, in crop 3 cc. small wood roaches (Blattidae).
Parasites.—Wharton and Hardcastle (1946:294) obtained the chigger (Acarina), Neoschöngastia yeomansi, from the megapode at Palau. Uchida (1918:486, 487) found the bird lice (Mallophaga), Goniocotes minor and Lipeurus sinuatus, on megapodes from the Palaus.
Remarks.—The NAMRU2 party arrived at the Palau Islands on August 23, 1945, with little notion that the megapode would be found on the war-torn island of Peleliu. As reported by the author (1946b:209 and 1948:46) we found birds in small numbers in the relatively undisturbed areas of rough coral covered by jungle and a few birds in the heavy matting of viny and brushy vegetation which was rapidly covering the battlefields. The finding of a higher population on the more isolated and relatively undisturbed offshore islets (Ngabad, Garakayo) by the NAMRU2 party was an observation similar to those of Takatsukasa (1932:15, 16) and Coultas (field notes). Takatsukasa (1932:16) remarks, "Dr. Finsch said that this Megapode frequents nearly all the islands of the Pelew Group ... but it is very noticeable that this bird has either disappeared, or only very rarely exists in the following islands: Koror, Ngarekobasanga, and especially the main island of Babelthuap." He quotes Otto Finsch as remarking that, "It seems that the bird occasionally moves from one island to another, as the bird is a good flier." Takatsukasa continues, "According to Tetens, this Megapode runs very swiftly among the bushes, and when it is startled it takes to the nearest tree.... Captain Wilson says nothing about the Megapode, but Dr. Finsch wrote that Captain Wilson is probably referring to the egg of this bird under 'Wild Fowls,' when he said that the natives of the Palaus do not eat the flesh of the birds, but they go to the woods and bring back the eggs; they do not appreciate the newly laid eggs, but they consider it as a delicacy to swallow the well advanced embryo."
The NAMRU2 party found the birds to prefer rough, coral jungle where there was considerable heavy undergrowth and ground litter. The birds were located by their loud screeches and cackles but were difficult to stalk. It was best to remain quiet and let them approach within shooting distance. Young chicks were extremely active and wild. One of the two chicks taken at Garakayo was obtained by a fortunate shot as the bird was flying rapidly through the brush. The natives use them as food, and I learned of one serviceman who had worked out a technique for trapping the birds. He traded the live birds to the natives for island souvenirs. As Wilson and Takatsukasa note, the natives apparently prefer the eggs to the adults as food, and in normal times of food abundance they probably do not molest the adults but hunt for their eggs. This seems logical, since if a determined trapping program were in operation by the natives, it should not take many decades to eliminate completely the entire population. On four islands visited by the NAMRU2 party in August and September, 1945, I estimated the following populations: Garakayo—20 to 30; Ngabad—5 to 10; Peleliu—10 to 20; Angaur—less than 10.
Megapodius lapérouse lapérouse Gaimard
Micronesian Megapode
Megapodius La Pérouse Gaimard, Bull. Gén. Univ. Annon. Nouv. Sci., 2, 1823, 451. (Type locality, Tinian, Archipel des Mariannes.)
Megapodius La Pérouse Quoy and Gaimard, Voy. "Uranie," Zool., 1824, pp. 127, 693, Atlas, pl. 33 (Tinian); idem, Ann. Sci. Nat. Paris, 6, 1825, p. 149 (Tinian).
Megapodius La Pérousii Quoy and Gaimard, Voy. "Uranie," Zool., 1824, p. 127, pl. 33 (Tinian); Wagler, Isis, 1829, p. 735 (Tinian, Guam, Rota); Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean, 1859, p. 46 (Tinian); Oustalet, Ann. Sci. Nat., (6), art. 2, 1881, pp. 63, 138, 140, 143, 171, 175, 176, 177 (Tinian); idem, Le Nat., 1889, p. 261 (Mariannes); idem, Ann. Sci. Nat., Zool., 11, 1891, p. 196 (Tinian, Seypan, Pagon).