68



The passing of the Spotted Emu.



River were shortly added to the collection ; these, however, were

admittedly immature at this stage, being darker than the common

form.


For many years ornithologists accepted the Spotted Emu as

a valid species. At least two forms of Ostrich are known, three

species of Rhea, nine or ten Cassowaries, four Apteryxes; why,

then, should there not be two Emus ? At the time when Bartlett

and Sclaterwere describing their new find naturalists had only just

begun to realise the unsuspected richness of the struthious birds

both in species and varieties. The Spotted Emu was figured by

Joseph Wolf in a grand coloured plate which appeared in the fourth

volume of the ‘ Transactions of the Zoological Society.’ We advise

all aviculturists to see and admire this plate.


Latterly the Spotted Emu has fallen under grave suspicion :

those aviculturists who, in Australia, have the best opportunities of

judging, reject it entirely. For ourselves, we confess that when a

few years ago we went to see in the Zoo four young Emus, one of

which, report had it, showed the characters of D. irroratus, we were

utterly unable to “ spot the winner,” these suspicions being confirmed

in 1915, when we again failed to distinguish a Spotted Emu from its

mates in the Edinburgh Zoological Park. Mr. Gillespie (‘ Avic. Mag.,’

vol. ix, April, p. 204) has expressed similar doubts regarding any

specific difference between the three Emus under his care In

Wolf’s plate above-mentioned, though the iris of the spotted species

is supposed to be hazel and that of the common one reddish-brown,

there is practically no difference between them as rendered by the

lithographer. The photograph of the Spotted Emu, published by

the Zoological Society of Scotland in their Garden Guide, suggests

nothing remarkable : the slenderness of feet and figure once reckoned

of diagnostic value are probably merely due to youth.


Similarly, Dr. D. Le Souef wrote in the ‘ Emu ’ for October,

1901 : “ In the Melbourne Zoological Gardens many live specimens

from different parts of Australia have been received, including those

from North-Western Australia, and they are practically all the same.

. . . Young specimens both from New South Wales, Victoria, and


Queensland, which have their feathers distinctly barred or spotted,

have been frequently received. In some cases nearly every feather



