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from April to Octol)er. The number of eggs is usually from ten to twelve, but I have known 

 an Emu in captivity to lay thirty-two eggs for one sitting. Both male and female take part in 

 the work of incubation. I am not certain of this period, but it is from six weeks to two months. 

 The eggs are of a dark green colour and oval in shape ; they have a very thick shell, and average 

 about eleven liy fourteen inches in circumference. They are strong in flavour, but very palatable 

 . as omeletes or in cakes. The meat in one Emu egg is considered equal to that in about eight 

 average-sized hen eggs. The young are covered with long coarse down, marked with white and 

 brown stripes ; they are very active, and can run speedily immediately after hatching." 



Mr. C. lirnest Cowle sent me the following notes from Central Australia :—" The Emu in 

 the vicinity of lllamurta and surrounding country in Central Australia is not so numerous as I 

 have heard and read of it being in the more fertile, even if more settled, parts of most of the 

 States. The mystery is, considering the struggle it has for existence in the parts I was stationed 

 in, that it has not been exterminated. On one occasion I counted twenty-tive coming down an 

 open gorge in a range, but we usually ran across them in pairs or small groups if adults, and 

 occasionally seven or eight immature ones, probably too young for mating. Their food consists 

 chiefly of the grasses and berries indigenous to the country, and especially the native Peach 

 (Ouandong) and native Hum, anotlierof the Sandalwoods and commonly called Emu I3ush. 

 They laid in June, July and August ; the nests are mere scratches in the ground, with no attempt 

 at lining, a small amount of debris from the adjacent low growth, or a few leaves from bushes at 

 hand, both of which I expect lodged against the eggs or nest through the action of the wind. 

 There does not appear to be any intelligence displayed in the way of concealment. I have seen 

 nests amongst the scattered spinifex, or at the foot of a straggly scrub in lightly timbered country, 

 and again on limestone ridges of the big Spinifex or Porcupine-grass. The usual number of 

 eggs laid for a sitting appeared to be seven to nine, but on one occasion we got eleven. In 

 what order the eggs are laid I cannot say; I had no opportunities of observing processes from 

 day to day, as I was always travelling. I noticed that the latest laid eggs and freshest were 

 invariably much brighter, and the gianulation or netting much more defined ; the others, from 

 attrition probably, were a duller and more even shade of green, and the eggs were smoother and 

 plainer in appearance the more advanced the period of incubation was. On one occasion I 

 found a bleached egg (rotten) in a nest with fresh eggs, and some fragments of old egg shells 

 round about, and from this I inferred that it was very probable the same pair had laid in the 

 same spot a second year, or that others had selected the same place this year. I do not for a 

 moment imagine it is a regular custom. From this stage onward the chance of the embryo is a 

 narrow one, and it is beset with enemies on all sides — wild dogs may find the eggs, or a black- 

 fellow, guided by unerring signs of the vicinity of a nest, will track and find it, generally securing 

 the sitting bird in addition. The Emu sits very close, with its neck on the ground, and .some- 

 times our horses were almost on t(^p of them before they rose up with a noise like 'whoosh.' 

 The period of incubation an egg has undersone is immaterial to an Aboriginal, if anything he 

 prefers it when the period of gestation is complete ; neither has he any heed of the morrow, 

 and nothing could induce him to leave eggs to hatch or young Emus on account of immaturity. 

 Should a sitting survive a little longer, they again have dogs and hawks to contend with, but 

 the sight of their little tracks when feeding with tlieir parents throws any black crossing them 

 into great excitement, and he will follow them for miles; when disturbed they scatter and hide 

 Hattened out on the sand, with their heads and necks stretched out, amongst the spinifex, 

 uttering a plaintive, peculiar, whistling cry when chased, and very few escape. Fre(iuently the 

 old Emu or Emus are slain at the same time as they circle round ' whooshing' before streaking 

 off. A grown Emu is pursued and captured in various manners; when observed feeding blacks 

 may approach closely enou-h for their dogs to get on before it gets a start, or a blackfellow 

 will stalk to a bush and then attract the attention of the Emu, who will gradually approach the 

 cover, craning and stretching its neck in one direction or another; now and again it becomes 



