[meg-uh-pohd] 
| any of several large-footed, short-winged gallinaceous Australasian birds of the family Megapodiidae, typically building a compostlike mound of decaying vegetation as an incubator for their eggs. |
| meg·a·pode (měg'ə-pōd') n. Any of various large-footed, ground-dwelling birds of the family Megapodiidae, found in Australia and many South Pacific islands, that build mounds or burrows of earth and compost in which to incubate their eggs. Also called moundbird, mound builder, scrub fowl. [From Megapodius, type genus : mega- + New Latin -podius, masculine of -podium, -pod.] |
| mound·bird (mound'bûrd') n. See megapode. |
