I0t;8 NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



they would merely fluttei- along the top and dive. There is no doubt 

 they flew, as they used to get quite close before they started, so that 

 you could see them distinctly in the moonlight, and, besides, no other 

 kinds of Duck frequented that part. 



" It seems to me that they do not, as a rule, fly in the day, because 

 they are heavy fliers, and cannot steer well or turn quickly, so they 

 know that the Hawks would soon have them, whereas at night they 

 are safe." 



ORDER CASUARII. 



FAMILY— DROM^ID^ : EMUS. 



762. — Drom.t!us nov/e HOLLANDi^E, Latham. — (492) 

 EMU. 



Figure. — Gould: Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi., pi. i 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxvii., p. 586. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould : Birds of Australia (1S4S), 

 also Handbook, vol. ii., p. 203 (1865) ; Bennett : Gatherings of 

 a Naturalist, p. 218 {i860) ; North : Austn. Mus. Cat., p. 292 

 (i88g) ; Campbell: Roy. Phvs. Soc, Edin., vol. xiii., p. 215 

 pi. 6 (1896). 



Geographical Distrihiition. — Australia in general. 



Nest. — Usually a flat bed or platform composed of grass or other 

 herbage plucked by the bird round about the site, and trampled down. 

 Sometimes bark, pieces of sticks, and leaves of trees are used, inter- 

 mingled with a few of the bird's own feathers. Shape generally oval, 

 about 4 feet hy 11 feet in size, and about 2 inches in thickness. Situa- 

 tion in open countr}', usually near the base of a tree or stump ; at other 

 limes in rank herbage or in a d;-y bod of a polygonum swamp. Some 

 authorities state that on the plains the eggs are deposited on the bare 

 earth, while in the Mallee country the nest is formed almost entirely 

 of strips of bark plucked from these trees by the bird. The nest or 

 bed is constructed or augmented as the laying and incubation of the 

 eggs proceed. 



Er/fix. — Clutch, usual average nine, but varies from seven to 

 eighteen ; elliptical in shape, a few exceptions being more swollen 

 about the centre. The appearance of a collection of freshly-gathered 

 unblown specimens is very beautiful ; the surfaces are rough (not imlUce 

 .'^hagreen), with granulations of dark-green upon a shell of light metallic 

 or verdigris-green. In some clutches the gianulations are so closely 

 placed and flattened or squeezed down as to hide completely the inter- 

 stices of light-green. In such instances the eggs arc of n more unifonn 



