50 Queensland Notes. [zndTuiy 



not get a side view. As soon as they started to run we went for 

 the one intended to be caught as fast as the horses could carry us, 

 and yelled and made as much noise as possible. The Emu, 

 instead of running steadily, then staggered along. When near 

 enough the stockwhip was swung overhand in circles, and the 

 lash continually dropped on him, when he went head over heels 

 from fright. The Emu's heels are his only weapon. I have been 

 kicked twice with Emus, and it is no joke. When an Emu is 

 being run fairly close, if there is any cover under which he can 

 hide his head he will often do it, for he seems under the im- 

 pression that if he cannot see you you cannot see him. On 

 Liverpool Plains there is a bushy weed called ' roly-poly.' It 

 breaks off near the ground, and is blown about by the wind into 

 large balls. I have on several occasions seen an Emu, when 

 frightened and tired, run up and push his head under a clump 

 of roly-poly, and stand so still that on two occasions I tied his 

 legs together with my stockwhip. Of course, I took care not to 

 get behind him, for fear he should kick. I never saw an Emu 

 strike to the side — ^he always kicked straight back. I seldom 

 bothered to run them ; when I did I always picked a half-grown 

 one, for it is bad enough to get kicked by a half-grown one, and a 

 young one may be a bigger fool than an old one. I think Emus 

 do not learn from experience, as the following will show : — There 

 was a tame Emu at the head station at Wolhollow. A screen 

 was put about half-way up the kitchen window to prevent him 

 putting his head in and snatching from the table anything that 

 took his fancy. He could get his head over the top of the screen, 

 but could not reach down to the table. When the meat was 

 being cooked in the old long-handled bush fryingpan I used to 

 take a piece of it on a fork hot from the pan and give it to him 

 over the screen. He always grabbed it, but as soon as it burnt 

 his mouth he seemed in a hurry to swallow it, and if it was a big 

 piece he used to get it down his neck about a foot, at the time 

 walking round with his mouth wide open, saying ' Wheep ' in 

 a most disconsolate manner. He never seemed to learn that it 

 burnt his mouth and neck, and was always ready for another 

 piece. Meat treated with black pepper was also given to him, 

 but he always swallowed it. I did not do this for cruelty, but 

 just to find out if it was possible for an Emu to learn by experi- 

 ence. When I was satisfied that he could not learn I often fed 

 him, and burnt his mouth no more. He had his little joke, too, 

 for when a strange dog came on the station he would run round, 

 passing close to the dog, trying to coax the animal to chase him. 

 If successful the Emu would slow down, and the dog got a kick 

 that astonished him. I do not recollect any dog trying to catch 

 that Emu a second time. I had cattle dogs that would heel cattle 

 and horses, but I never saw one of them try to heel an Emu. 



" Captain Francis had a tame Emu at Folkstone, Breakfast Creek- 

 road. I was very intimate with the captain, and one day when 

 I was at Folkstone the Emu was squatting down and did not seem 



