THE EMU. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE EMU. 



OF this bird, which many call the American 

 Ostrich, but little is certainly known. It is an 

 inhabitant of the New Continent ; and the tra- 

 vellers who have mentioned it seem to have been 

 more solicitous in proving its affinity to the os- 

 trich, than in describing those peculiarities which 

 distinguish it from all others of the feathered 

 creation. 



It is chiefly found in Guiana, along the banks 

 of the Oroonoko, in the inland provinces of Brasil 

 and Chili, and the vast forests that border on the 

 mouth of the river Plata. Many other parts of 

 South America were known to have them ; but 

 as men multiplied, these large and timorous birds 

 either fell beneath their superior power, or fled 

 from their vicinity. 



The Emu, though not so large as the ostrich, 

 is only second to it in magnitude. It is by much 

 the largest bird in the New Continent ; and is 

 generally found to be six feet high, measuring 

 from its head to the ground. Its legs are three 

 feet long ; and its thigh is near as thick as that 

 of a man. The toes differ from those of the os- 

 trich ; as there are three in the American bird, 

 and but two in the former. Its neck is long, its 

 head small, and the bill flatted, like that of the 

 ostrich ; but, in all other respects, it more re- 



