103 



A NOTE ON THE KING ISLAND EMU. 



By H. H. Scott, 



Curator of the Launceston Museum. 



(Read 8th October, 1923.; 



The present note is to be regarded as being strictly 

 additional to the published data of Spencer and Kershaw 

 (1910). To recapitulate, it may be said that the authors 

 quoted describe Dromseus minor in the following terms: — 

 "Size varying considerably, but always smaller than that of 

 "D. novse-hollandix ; not exceeding that of D. peroni, but of 

 "more robust build. Tibio-tarsus rarely exceeding 330 mm., 

 ''most usually from 270-320 mm., in greatest length. Tarso- 

 "metatarsus rarely exceeding 280 mm., most usually from 

 "220-280 mm. in greatest length. Frontal region of skull 

 "dome-shaped. Length of skull from frontal suture to 

 '^occiput not, or only slightly, exceeding 60 mm. Greatest 

 "width of the skull not, or only slightly, exceeding 55 mm. 

 "Habitat: King Island, Bass Strait. Now extinct." The 

 range of measurements here given is wide, and it must be 

 noticed that the exact ratio between the tibio-tarsus and 

 tarso-metatarsus cf any single bird is not stated. As a 

 matter of fact, I happeii to know that the material Spencer 

 and Kershaw worked upon did not contain any three leg- 

 bones that were beyond all question associates — neither did 

 they hold any two that they could be certain were parts of a 

 single bird. In these circumstances the notes I am here putting 

 upon record should be welcome ones, as they detail the 

 osteology of various bones, found buried in actual »osition, 

 and beyond all doubt parts of a single individual Emu. 



FEMUR. 



The total length of the femur is 189 mm., the right being 

 here taken, as it is a shade longer than the left. Both bones 

 are in good order, and could not have exceeded 190 mm. at 

 any time. The proximal width is 48 mm., and the distal 55 

 mm. It is of interest to note that Spencer and Kershaw 

 place their maximum femur at a total length of 186 mm. 

 We are, therefore, in pos.scssion of a maximum test bone 

 upon their scale — a mo.st fortunate circumstance, as it 

 enables us, by a process of comparative ratios, to get a fair 

 idea of the total height of a fully adult and apparently well- 

 developed King Island Emu. 



