EMU. 3 



head is small and completely feathered. The wing is very small with a long sharp 

 claw but few short feathers similar to those on the body with no differentiated quills. 

 There are no differentiated tail-feathers. The legs are very long and stout, feathered 

 to the tarsal joint ; the tarsus covered with scales of various sizes, those in front 

 small hexagonal ones save at lower portion where a few large horizontal scutes occur 

 which are separated from the pronounced scutes of the toes by minute hexagonal 

 scales, those at the back develop into pointed protuberances. The middle toe is 

 much longer than the inner and outer which are subequal, all bearing stout short 

 claws. There is no hind-toe or claw. The feathers have the shaft and aftershaft of 

 equal length. Adult coloration uniform. The downy young has a peculiar striped 

 coloration and in structure shows the general adult features except that the claw of 

 the inner toe is disproportionately lengthened, which character does not persist in 

 the adult. Confined to Australia and Tasmania. 



I. Dromiceius novsehollandise. EMU. 



Gould, Vol. VI., pi. 1. (pt. xxxiii.), Dec. 1st, 1848. Mathews, Vol. I., pt. 1, pis. 1 and 2, 

 Oct. 31st, 1910. 



Casuarius novcehollandice Latham, Index Ornith., Vol. II., p. 665, (before Dec. 9th) 1790 : 



Sydney, New South Wales. 



Casuarius australis Shaw and Nodder, Nat. Miscell., Vol. III., pi. 99, April 1st, 1792 : Sydney, 



New South Wales. 



Dromaius ater Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., Vol. X., p. 212, June 21st, 1817 : New 



name for C. novcehollandice Latham. 



Dromiceus emu Stephens, in Shaw's Gen. Zool., Vol. XIV., p. 307, pi. 39, 1826 (late) : Sydney, 



New South Wales. 



Dromceus irroratus Bartlett, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1859, p. 205, Oct. 1st: interior of 



New South Wales. 



Dromceus diemenensis Le Souef, Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club, Vol. XXL, p. 13, Oct. 29th, 1907 t 



Tasmania. 



Dromiceius novcehollandice woodwardi Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIIL, p. 175, Jan. 31st, 



1912 : Strelley River, mid-West Australia. 



Dromiceius novcehollandice rothschildi Mathews, ib. : Gracefield, South-west Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. Australia : Except the scrub country from Cardwell to Lloyds Bay, North 

 Queensland. [Tasmania. Extinct.] 



Adult. General colour above blackish, the feathers being brown or ashy -brown, 

 the shafts and the ends of the feathers black, giving the general tone to the upper- 

 surface ; sides of the body lighter than the back ; the feathers of the lower back 

 and rump very long and spine-like, black in the centre and ruf escent on the margins ; 

 sides of body grey, with black shaft-lines and ends to the feathers, imparting a spotted 

 appearance ; crown of head with long hairy crest-plumes, black, like the upper 

 hind-neck ; lower hind-neck light ashy -brown, with black shaft-lines and tips to 

 the feathers ; lores, eyelid, sides of face and sides of neck bare and of a bluish -white 

 colour, with a few hair-like bristles ; ear-coverts hidden with black bristly plumes, 

 which also conceal the cheeks, but in a less degree ; throat smoky-grey, the chin 

 bare. The feathers of the neck for about half-way down from the head are short 

 and hair-like, joining the other feathers abruptly. This gives the bird the appear- 

 ance of having a ruff. This ruff is whitish in very old birds. Iris hazel ; legs 

 brownish -black ; bill blackish (life). Total length about 183 cm. ; bill from gape 

 115 mm., tarsus 355, middle toe and claw 200. 



Adult female. The general colour above is ashy -grey ; the feathers of the back 

 are linear in shape and tipped with black or reddish -brown, which gives a streaked 

 appearance to the upper side ; the sides of the body and feathers of the wings are 

 grey ; the feathers of the lower back, rump, and tail are more elongated and disin- 

 tegrated, being of a pale brown intermixed with a dark shade of the same colour ; 



B 2 



