II DROMAEIDAE ZvE 
and spots on the head and lower parts. The sexes are similarly 
coloured, both possessing a remarkable tracheal pouch, connected 
by a slit with the windpipe, and only fully developed in adults.’ 
In their general habits Emeus are not unlike Cassowaries, 
but they inhabit sandy plains or open forest districts, being 
invariably monogamous, though seen in small parties after breed- 
ing. Their sight is keen, they run strongly and rapidly, rest on 
the whole metatarsus, and kick out backwards towards the side. 
sare =, GEL 
Fie. 11.—Emeu. Dromaeus novae-hollandiae. x 5. 
The food is of fruit, roots, and herbage, generally obtained in 
the morning or evening; water is freely drunk, and the birds 
love bathing, being capable of crossing even a broad river. They 
utter at times a hissing or grunting sound, but in the nesting 
season a peculiar loud booming or drumming note is produced, 
probably in connexion with the tracheal pouch. The nest may 
be a mere hollow scraped in the ground, with or without a sur- 
rounding ring of grass or plant-stems, or a mound of bark-scales 
some three inches high*; the eges are from seven to thirteen in 
cht 
Seo) 
number, or even more, and are of a dark, or occasionally h 
1 Cf. Murie, P.Z.S. 1867, p. 405. 
? North, Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds, Sydney, 1889, p. 293. 
