Vol. XVI I. -j Queensland Notes. 5 1 



to want to get up. I said, ' Captain, your Emu is a bit seedy.' 

 He then told me that his man had been going to do some painting, 

 and had left a large pot of green paint for a little while. The Emu 

 had eaten all the paint, the colour having apparently taken his 

 fancy. It did him no harm, however." 



Another old observer, writing of the blacks and Emus, says : — 

 " If a red-coloured blanket is hung out the Emu will not leave 

 until he has come close enough to see what it is. I once did this, 

 and brought nine Emus close to the house, and then got the gun 

 to shoot one. But it seemed a cruel sin to fire on the beautiful 

 birds, and I could not. We had a black man on our station, 

 however, who could imitate an Emu to perfection. The evening 

 suited exactly. Light clouds partly hid the moon, and we had 

 a surprise for the young people. The black only had his grey 

 blanket and a stick for the neck of the Emu, his hand inside the 

 blanket for the head ; and thus equipped he personified the Emu 

 so well that at ten yards distant no one could have known but 

 that it was one." 



Ourselves. 



The first re-union of members of the Union took place on the 

 evening of Thursday, 24th May, 1917. A dinner was held first at 

 Nissen's Exchange Hotel, at which 21 members were present, and 

 an adjournment was then made to the room at No. 2 Temple 

 Court, where seven more members joined. 



Mr. D. Le Souef was voted to the chair. 



Details as to the proposed future re-unions were discussed. 



Mr. J. A. Kershaw stated that as soon as the " H. L. White 

 collection " of skins had been received by the National Museum 

 he would inform the Council ; also that the skins could be seen 

 there at any time during the day when the Museum was open, as 

 well as on one evening a month by members of the R.A.O.U. only. 

 The room in which they would be kept was well lighted and had 

 seating accommodation. 



A hearty vote of thanks was unanimously passed to Mi". H. L. 

 White for his generous gift of Gould's " Birds of Australia " to the 

 library of the Union. 



The bird skins, eggs, books, and other property of the Union 

 were inspected. 



LEGAL POSITION OF THE R.A.O.U. 



At a meeting of the Executive Council of the State of Victoria 

 on 29th May, 1917, His Excellency the Governor of Victoria 

 consented to the use of the word " Royal" in the name of the 

 company known as the " Royal Australasian Ornithologists' 

 Union." 



All legal preliminaries being now in order, registration of the 

 Union as a no-profit company will soon be completed. 



