From 1796 to 1798, he joined Nicolas Baudin on a government-supported expedition to collect bird specimens in Tenerife, St. Thomas, St. Croix and Puerto Rico.[2] There, Maugé collected 296 bird specimens.[1]
On 19 October 1800, aged 42,[3] he again joined Baudin on Expédition aux terres australes (1800-1804) a voyage to Tenerife, Mauritius, Australia and Timor with the corvette Le Géographe and the store-ship Le Naturaliste.[4] Maugé was appointed by Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu, director of the Muséum Nationale d’Histoire Naturelle, as one of the official expedition zoologists. The scientific expedition and collection of specimens was challenging in the uncharted territory.[4] On the expedition to Timor, Maugé would describe at least fifty-two species new to science.[1]
On 20 February 1802, Maugé died of dysentery on board the Le Géographe off the coast of Tasmania.[5] He was buried on Maria Island.[6][7] His death was a considerable blow to the expedition. After his death, many of Maugé's collections from Timor were dispersed and some were lost.[1]
