DROMAIUS NOV A=HOLLANDIZE.

The Emu.

New Holland Cassowary, Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 271.—White’s Journ., pl. in p. 129.—Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp.,
vol. ii. p. 290.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 383.

Southern Cassowary, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 99.

Emu of New South Wales, Collin’s Voy., vol. ii. pl. in p. 307.

Casuarius Nove-Hollandia, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 665.—Cuv. Régn. Anim., tom. i. p. 497.

Casoare de la Nouvelle Hollande, Péron, Voy. aux ‘Terr. Aust., tom. i. p. 467. pls. 36 and 41.

Dromaius ater, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., tom. ii. pl. 226.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 9. Atlas, pl, 2. fig. 2,

The Emeu, Gard. and Menag. of Zool. Soc., Birds, p. 192.

Van Diemen’s Land Cassowary, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 384. pl. exxxviii.

Dromiceus Australis, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 346.

— Emu, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xi. p. 439, and vol. xiv. p. 307. pl. 39.

Dromaius Nove-Hollandia, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 82.—List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll.,

part ill. p. 54.

 

Tis fine bird, which is only exceeded in size by the Ostrich of Africa, was first described and figured
under the name of the New Holland Cassowary in Governor Phillip’s ** Voyage to Botany Bay,” published in
1789, and it has been included in all ornithological works of a general nature that.have appeared since that
date ; but by far the most accurate figure and account of it that has yet been given are those published by
the late Mr. Bennett in the “‘ Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society delineated.” ‘In size and
bulk,” says Mr. Bennett, ‘* the Emu is exceeded by the African Ostrich alone. Its average measurement may
be estimated at between five and six feet in height. In form it closely resembles the Ostrich, but is lower
on the legs, shorter in the neck, and of a more thick-set and clumsy make. At a distance its feathers have
more the appearance of hair than of plumage, their barbs being all loose and separate. As in the Ostriches
they take their origin by pairs from the same shaft. .... The wings are so extremely small as to be quite
invisible when applied to the surface of the body. They are clothed with feathers exactly similar to those
of the back, which divide from a middle line and fall gracefully over on either side..... These birds
appear to be widely spread over the southern part of the continent of New Holland and the neighbouring
islands ; but we are not aware that they have been hitherto observed in its tropical regions. They were
formerly very abundant at Botany Bay and Port Jackson. On the south coast they have been met with in
great numbers, at Port Phillip by Captain Flinders, and at King George’s Sound by the same officer and
the naturalists of the expedition under D’Entrecasteaux. They seem also to be extremely numerous in the
adjacent islands, especially in Kangaroo and King’s Islands, where they were found in the greatest abundance
by both Flinders and Péron. According to the latest accounts from Swan River, they have also been
observed on that part of the west coast on which the settlement is situated.”

The researches that have been made in Australia since the above account was published prove that it is
universally dispersed over the whole of the Australian continent, and that it is even more numerous in
the northern or tropical regions than it would seem to have formerly been in the southern; on the other
hand, from Van Diemen’s Land, the islands in Bass’s Straits and the colony of New South Wales it is
almost extirpated ; a few still range over the western part of Van Diemen’s Land, and it may yet be met
with on the Liverpool Plains, in New ‘South Wales, and probably on some of the low islands at the mouth
of the Hunter, where I observed its recent foot-marks. In South Australia it has suffered less from the
encroachments of the white man than in New South Wales, and the same may be said of the colony of Swan
River.

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‘*Tn its manners,’ says Mr. Bennett, ‘ the Emu bears a close resemblance to the Ostrich... . . Its food
appears to be wholly vegetable, consisting chiefly of fruits, roots and herbage; and it is consequently,
notwithstanding its great strength, perfectly inoffensive. The length of its legs and the muscularity of its
thighs enable it to run with great swiftness; and as it is exceedingly shy, it is not easily overtaken or
brought within gun-shot. Captain Currie states that it affords excellent coursing, equalling, if not surpass-
ing, the same sport with the hare in England; but Mr. Cunningham says that dogs will seldom attack it,
both on account of some peculiar odour in its flesh which they dislike, and because the injuries it inflicts
upon them by striking out with its feet are frequently very severe. The settlers even assert that the Emu
will break the small bone of a man’s leg by this sort of kick ; which to avoid, the well-trained dogs run up
abreast and make a sudden spring at their neck, whereby they are quickly despatched.”

Its flesh has been compared to coarse beef, which it resembles, according to Mr. Cunningham, “ both in
appearance and taste, and is good and sweet eating ; nothing indeed can be more delicate than the flesh of
the young ones. ‘There is but little fit for culinary use upon any part of the Emu, except the hind-quarters,
which are of such dimensions that the shouldering of two hind-legs homewards for a mile distance once

proved to me as tiresome a task as I ever recollect to have encountered in the colony.” I may remark that its

flesh proved of the greatest service to Dr. Leichhardt and his intrepid companions during their overland