204 BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA. 



Sp. 493. DROMAIUS IRRORATUS, Bartlett 



Spotted Emu. 

 Dromceus irroratus, Bartl. in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xxvii. p. 205. 



At the scientific meeting of the Zoological Society of Lon- 

 don, held on the 24th of May, 1859, Mr. Bartlett, Super- 

 intendent of the Society's Gardens in the Regent's Park, 

 exhibited a specimen of an Emu which had been obtained 

 with several others in the interior of South Australia, and 

 remarked that — 



" It differs from D?vmaus nov(B-holla7idi(B in having the 

 whole of the feathers of the body distinctly marked with 

 narrow transverse bars of light grey and dark brownish black. 

 The feathers of the back and sides are broader, longer, and 

 less silky in texture than those of the common species, the 

 latter difference being quite evident to the touch ; the upper 

 part of the head and neck is nearly black, and the feathers 

 appear thicker than those of the same parts in the other 

 bird. 



" The specimen to which these remarks refer was one of 

 three examined by me, two of which were adult and one a 

 young bird about one-third grown. The latter exhibited the 

 transverse bars on its plumage as distinctly as the adult bird, 

 and the broad longitudinal stripes were clearly to be seen. 

 Judging from the skins I have seen, I am inclined to consider 

 that this new bird is smaller than the common species. I beg 

 to propose provisionally the name of Bromcem irroratus for 

 this supposed new species." 



Having seen adult and youthful examples of this Emu, all 

 bearing the characters which suggested its specific name, I 

 have no doubt of its being distinct from the D. novcs kollandicB. 

 I am almost equally certain that it is confined to the western 

 division of Australia, and that it represents there the Emu 

 of the eastern. Whether the two species inosculate in South 



