in the course of which, but more particularly between the head

route from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, ,
‘apture of the Emu was almost a daily

of the Gulf of Carpentaria and Port Essington, the sight and |
it, that he states that he saw in the short space of eight miles at least

occurrence ; so abundant in fact was
Dr. Leichhardt mentions that the natives

of three, five, ten, and even more, at a time.
break the wings—why, he was at a loss to conceive, as they could but slightly
should it survive ; some curious practices also exist with respect to

ars of which I have not been able to learn, but I may mention that

a hundred, in flocks
on killing an Emu invariably
assist the animal in making its escape,
this bird among the natives, the particul
and boys are not allowed to feed upon it.

al sound the Emu has been heard to utter is a low booming or pumping noise, which we
and contraction of a large membranous bag,

the young men

The only voc
know is produced in the female by means of the expansion
ough the rings of the trachea; but whether this peculiarity of structure

surrounding an oblong opening thr
For the loan of some interesting drawings and a specimen

is also to be found in the male I am not aware.
in spirits of this very singular conformation I am indebted to my friend W. Yarrell, Esq.

The eggs are six or seven in number, of a beautiful dark green, resembling shagreen in appearance ; five
inches and three-quarters in length by three inches and three-quarters in breadth; they are held in much
esteem by the natives, who feed upon them exclusively whenever they can be procured. They are merely
placed in a cavity scooped in the earth, generally in a sandy soil.

They pair with tolerable constancy, and the male bird appears to take a large share in the task of incu-
bation. In captivity they speedily become tame and domesticated, and have been bred without difficulty in
various collections in this country.

Little or no difference of colour is observable in the sexes, which may be thus described :—

The entire plumage is of a dull brown, mottled, particularly on the under surface, with dirty grey; the
feathers of the head and neck becoming gradually shorter, and so thinly placed that the purplish hue of the
skin of the throat and round the ears is perfectly visible ; irides brown; bill and legs dusky black.

The young on first quitting the shell have a very elegant appearance, the ground-colour being greyish
white, with two longitudinal broad black stripes along the back, and two others on each side, each sub-
divided by a narrow middle line of white; these stripes being continued along the neck without subdivision
and broken into irregular spots on the head ; two other broken stripes pass down the fore-part of the neck
and breast, and terminate in a broad band across the thighs.

The Plate represents a reduced figure of the adult and a brood of young ones.