Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/860

Rh 828 M E G M E G of the back bearing each near the tip an oval or subcircular patch, whence the trivial scientific name of the bird is given, while a stripe of black feathers with a median line of white extends down the front of the throat, from the chin to the breast. There is but one species of this genus known, as is also the case with the next to be mentioned, which is a singular bird long known to inhabit Celebes, but not fully described until 1846, 1 when it received from S.xlomon Miiller (Arch. f. Naturgeschickte, xii. pt. 1, p. 116) the name of Macrocephcdyn maleo, but, being shortly afterwards figured by Gray and Mitchell (Gen. Birds, iii. pi. 123) under the generic term of Megacephalon, has since commonly borne the latter appellation. This is a very remarkable form, bearing a helmet-like protuberance on the back of its head, all of which as well as the neck is bare and of a bright red colour ; the plumage of the body is glossy black above, and beneath roseate-white. Of the Megapodes proper, constituting the genus Megapodius, many species have been described, but authori ties are greatly at variance as to the validity of several, and here it would be impossible to name all that have been supposed to exist. Some are only known from very young examples mere chickens ; and some have even been described from their eggs alone. In 1870 Mr G. R. Gray enumerated twenty species, of which sixteen were repre sented in the British Museum, and several have been described since; but ten years later Professor Schlegel recognized only seventeen species, of which examples of twelve were contained in the Leyden Museum (Mus. des Pays-Bas, viii., Monogr. 41, pp. 56-86), while M. Oustalet, in his elaborate monograph of the Family (Ann. Sc. Nat., Zoologie, ser. 6, vols. x. and xi.), admits nineteen species. The birds of this genus range from the Samoa Islands in the east, through the Tonga group, to the New He brides, the northern part of Australia, New Guinea and its neighbouring islands, Celebes, the Pelew Islands, and the Ladrones, and have also outliers in detached portions of the Indian Region, as the Philippines (where indeed they were first discovered by Europeans), Labuan, and even the Nicobars though none are known from the intervening islands of Borneo, Java, or Sumatra. Within what may be deemed their proper area they are found, says Mr Wallace (Geoyr. Distr. Animals, ii. p. 341) &quot;on the smallest islands and sand-banks, and can evidently pass over a few miles of sea with ease.&quot; Indeed proof of their roaming disposition is afforded by the fact that the bird described by Lesson (Voy. Coquille: Zoologie, p. 703) as Alecthelia urvillii, but now considered to be the young of Megapodius freycineti, flew on board his ship when more than 2 miles from the nearest land (Guebe), in an exhausted stite, it is true, but thab may be attributed to its extreme youth. The species of Megapodius are about the size of small Fowls, the head generally crested, the tail very short, the feet enormously large, and, with the exception of M. wallacii (Proc. Zool. Society, I860, Aves, pi. 171). from the Moluccis, all have a sombre plumage. The extraordinary habit possessed by the Megapodes generally of relieving themselves of the duty of incuba tion, as before mentioned, a habit which originally attracted the attention of travellers, whose stories were on that very account discredited, as well as the highly developed condition of the young at birth, has been so fully described by Gould (Handb. B. Australia, ii. pp. 152- 175), G. R. Gray (Proc. Zool. Society, 1861, pp. 292-296), and Mr Wallace (Malay Archipelago, i. pp. 415-419; ii. pp. 147-149), and so often repeated by other writers, as to 1 As we Lave seen, it was mentioned in 1726 by Valentyn, and a young example was in 1830 described and figured by Quoy and Gaim- ard (Voy. de I Astrolabe: Oiseaux, p. 239, pi. 25) as the Mega- podius rttbrijjes of Temminck, a wholly different bird. be very commonly known, and here there seems no necessity to enter into further details concerning it. (A. N.) MEGARA was the name of two Greek towns, one in Sicily, which has been already described under HYBLA, the other on the road from Attica to Corinth. The country which belonged to the city was called Meyapi s or f] MeyaptKr/ ; it occupied the broader part of the isthmus between Attica, Bceotia, Corinth, and the two gulfs, and its whole area is estimated by Clinton at 143 square miles. The range of Mount Geraneia extends across the country from east to west, forming a barrier between continental Greece and the Peloponnesus. The shortest road across this range passes along the eastern side of the mountains, and the most difficult part is the celebrated Scironian rocks, the mythic home of the robber Sciron. The only plain in the rugged little country was the White Plain, in which was situated the only important town, Megara. The town was one of the most important commercial and colonizing centres of Greece in early times, and there is no doubt that its trade, like that of Corinth, owed its origin to the Phoenicians, who found its situation on the isthmus convenient. It became a Dorian city when that tribe conquered the Peloponnesus. Like many other cities of Greece, Megara was formed out of five village?, which were united on one political foundation ; and this event must have taken place not later than the middle of the 8th century. From this time for two centuries Megara was among the most powerful cities of Greece. Though it had a harbour called Pegae on the Corinthian Gulf, and founded a Sicilian colony, Megara Hybltea, in 728 B.C., yet it did not long compete with Corinth and Corcyra for the western trade. Nissea on the Saronic Gulf was a better harbour, and gave the Megarians a stronger footing on the eastern seas. In order to keep their hold on the Black Sea traffic, they founded numerous trading stations along side of their chief rivals, the people of Miletus : Chalcedon and Byzantium on the Bosphorus, and Astacus and Heraclea in Bithynia were colonies of Megara. Wealth and culture increased in the city; the country festivals were celebrated in a more elaborate and orderly manner, and Susarion of Tripodiscus first gave literary form to Grecian comedy, which was soon transferred to Attica. The situation of Megaris on the isthmus gave it great political power, inasmuch as it commanded all the roads from the Peloponnesus into continental Greece ; and so long as the people continued united under an orderly government they maintained their high position. But the development of education prompted the lower classes to demand from the nobles an equal share in the govern ment, and Megara did not, like Athens and Sparta, produce a constitution which could reconcile the contending parties. A tyrant Theagenes raised himself to supreme power as the leader of the popular party ; lie made an aqueduct for the city, and appears to have maintained its power and splendour. But he was expelled by the nobles about 600 B.C., and for many years Megara was the scene of continual struggles. The poor, who were indebted to the rich, refused to pay what they counted exorbitant interest, and plundered the houses of the nobles. A vivid picture of the state of the city in the 6th century B.c. is preserved in the writings of the poet Thcognis, who belonged to the aristocratic party. Meanwhile Athens was rising to power, and maintained a long war with Megara for the island of Salamis. The Megarians gradually lost strength, and finally Solon wrested the island from them for ever. They sent three thousand troops to fight at Platsea. In the wars between Athens and Sparta they were impelled by jealousy of their neighbours of Corinth to join the Athenian alliance, 455-45 ; but they soon found that they were only the subjects of Athens, and finally