62 NATUEAL HISTOEY SKETCHES. 



plaints. "When properly dressed, the skin makes a fine 

 rug, which is very warm, and moreover, a bit of a " curio." 

 A full-grown emu will stand above six feet, and I know 

 that it takes two men to lift one on to a horse. The 

 breeding habits of the emu differ from the ostrich ; at 

 least, I once found two eggs, and they were not fresh, 

 near Arthur's Seat, on the coast here. They lay open in 

 a little hole in the ground, scraped among a heap of moss 

 and rubbish in the forest. They were rather larger than 

 a swan's egg, of a greenish-black colour. 



The Wild Turkey (gollopachin) is certainly entitled to 

 the first place in the list of Australian game birds. It is 

 a species of bustard, smaller, however, than the European 

 bustard, and the male wants the moustache peculiar 

 to that bird. The legs are not so long in proportion, it 

 flies much better, and when in the air, rather resembles 

 the common turkey. It is of a light gray colour, 

 mottled and pencilled with black. An old male will 

 weigh about 20 Ibs., a female 9 to 12. They generally 

 frequent the plains and open moors, are partial to old 

 sheep-folding grounds, and I have seen as many as 

 twenty-seven feeding together on the wide open country 

 towards Gelong. It is a very shy bird, and few are met 

 with now in the neighbourhood of Melbourne, but they 

 abound on the large sheep-stations up country ; they ge- 

 nerally came into our district as stragglers, but an odd 

 couple or so bred in the heather ; for I have often raised a 

 single bird in the summer on an open moor ; and there 

 were certain places where we could generally see three 



