DESCRIPTION OF THE EMU 145 



that it takes a very good horse to keep them in sight. I 

 do not think that a single horseman could ride an emu 

 down without the assistance of dogs. Emu hunting is 

 quite as good sport as kangaroo chasing, and is not 

 without that spice of excitement which comes of risking an 

 ugly attack from the pursued game. A kick from an emu 

 is nearly as dangerous as one from a kangaroo. It will 

 break the leg of a man, or send a too venturesome dog 

 spinning through the air with a broken back : and the 

 dogs, unless numerous in number, seldom succeed in 

 pulling the bird down without assistance from the hunter. 

 In helping the dogs the latter should always approach the 

 bird from the front, otherwise he may be badly crippled. 



Solitary emus are nearly always travelling across 

 country when sighted, which circumstance leads me to 

 think that they may be only temporarily separated from 

 their flock. When the flock is resting, some members of 

 it will be squatting on their bent legs in a particular 

 manner, quite unlike that of other birds in the same 

 circumstances. The position is a kneeling on the true 

 ankles of the bird, with the legs bent forward, only the tail- 

 end touching the ground. From this position the emu can 

 instantly rise without exerting much muscular power, and 

 thus kneeling they slumber with their heads buried amidst 

 the feathers of the shoulder. They are very light sleepers, 

 and cannot be surprised asleep. 



While the kneeling position is the one usually chosen 

 by the emu for resting and sleeping purposes, it also often 

 lies on its side, wallowing like a hen in the dust and sand, 

 and kicking the gravel in clouds about it. It also shakes 

 its feathers in a dog-like manner, and with a noise which 

 can be heard a considerable distance. The sound of this 

 feather-shaking has often apprised me at night-time, when 

 lying out in the desert, of the presence in the neighbour- 

 hood of emus when none had been previously seen ; and 

 has proved that they are not afraid to approach within one 

 or two hundred yards of a watch-fire, though in daylight 

 the traveller has difficulty in getting nearer to these 

 cautious birds than half a mile. In all the postures of 



K 



