CHAPTEft IX. 



THE EMEU. 



Pete foi> princes. Orthography of the name. Confounded with the Cassowary, 

 Game laws in Australia.Anticipated extinction of the Emeu. Operating 

 causes. Self-denial of the aborigines. Duty of the present Australians to 

 preserve the Enieu.Ease with which it may be stalked. Proposed Emeu 

 parks. Little hope for future Emeus. The refuge of domestication. Dinor- 

 nithes, or Wonder Birds. Their discovery and history. Adaptation of the 

 various species to their localty in New Zealand. Their great variety. Their 

 recent existence. How congregated in New Zealand. Professor Owen's con* 

 jecture. Any hope that they still survive ? A few glimpses of evidence. The 

 latest news. Habits and propagation of the Emeu. The Emeus at Knowsley. 

 Follow the seasons of the southern hemisphere. Injudicious proceedings. 

 Their diet. Peculiarities of their plumage. 



THEKE are pet birds suited for all classes and ranks 

 of mankind ; there are Larks, Linnets, Canaries, and 

 Finches for the humble artisan, as well as for his supe- 

 riors; there are Hawks and Falcons for sportsmen; 

 Jackdaws, Magpies, and Ravens for ostlers and stable- 

 keepers ; Parrots and their kind for indoor invalids ; 

 Swans and Peacocks for the gentry ; Ducks and Geese 

 for the fen-folks ; the Stork for the Dutch, the Eobin 

 for the English peasant ; and, since the Ostrich refuses 

 to breed in captivity, the Emeu is the bird for Peers 

 and for Princes. 



It will hardly be supposed that the Emeu is made to 

 appear in this volume from any hope of its possible pro- 

 fitableness in a domestic state. But we may urge, in 

 the words of Eleazer Albin, that " T is certain brute 

 animals were placed amongst us for nobler ends than 

 just to kill and eat ; and to a mind athirst for know- 



