376 A BLACK SWAX. 



they can hardly be discerned. Internally, the emu differs, it is said, 

 from all other species, particularly in having no gizzard, and in the 

 extremely small size of his liver. 



Emus are killed, according to Captain (now Sir George) Grey, in 

 precisely the same manner as kangaroos, but as they are more prized 

 by the natives, a greater degree of excitement prevails when an emu 

 is slain ; shout succeeds shout, and the distant natives take up the 

 cry until it is sometimes re-echoed for miles. The feast which 

 follows the death, however, is a very exclusive one, for the flesh is 

 much too delicious to be made a common article of food. Heavy 

 penaltievS are accordingly pronounced against young men, and 

 unauthorized persons, who venture to touch it ; and these, invariably, 

 are rigidly enforced.* 



Every schoolboy knows the famous quotation in his Latin 

 grammar which tells of a 



" Kara avis, simillimaque nigro cygno." 



A Black Swan is no longer a "rara avis." The species (Cygnus 

 atratus) belongs to New Holland and Tasmania, and is of the same 

 size as the common swan. His plumage is wholly black, with the 

 exception of the primary pens, which are white ; his beak is red, and 

 so is the featherless skin surrounding it at the base. He has been 

 successfully acclimatized in Europe, and ornaments the lakes and 

 streams of many English parks. 



The Cereopsis, or Cerefaced Goose, of New Holland, is a Palmiped 

 genus, about the size of a common goose, which, in general appear- 

 ance, he resembles, except that his legs are longer, averaging from two 

 and a half to three feet. The plumage is of a dingy gray. A large 

 patch of dull white occupies the top of the head ; the quill-feathers, 

 both of the wings and tail, are of a dusty black. His voice has a 

 hoarse deep clang, like that of a storm-bell. He usually weighs from 

 seven to ten pounds, and makes an excellent dish for an Australian 



* Sir. G. Grey, " Expeditions of Discovery in North-Western and Western Australia " 

 (1840). 



