q6 Br ASJL, The Emu of King Island. [,st^"oci. 



type of the species, one of the Emus brought back by the Baudin 

 expedition from Kangaroo Island. It measures : — 



Total height ... ... ... ... 86 cent. 



Height of the back ... ... ... 66 „ 



But the one lying down on the plate, the female, is considerably 

 smaller than the other. The two birds being in different attitudes, 

 it is fairly difficult to compare their height ; however, in the plate 

 or in the original sketches one and the same dimension may. be 

 measured on both subjects, that which may be termed the length 

 of the trunk from front to back : it is about 90 centimetres for the 

 female, as against about 120 for the male, or three-quarters. If 

 we admit that all the dimensions are in proportion — and this 

 should be approximately true — we obtain the following heights 

 for the female : — 



Total height ... ... ... ... 96 cent. 



Height of the back ... ... ... 66 „ 



We find, then, that the second of these heights measures exactly 

 the same number of centimetres as the skin mentioned above. 

 It is, besides, the only important height — the only one which 

 changes but slightly in the various attitudes of the bird when 

 standing, while the other, the total height, varies considerably 

 with the position of the head and neck. From all that precedes, 

 we may deduce the following conclusions — the only ones which, 

 it seems to me, are logical and permissible : — 



1. All the indications of the legend on Plate XXXVI. of the 

 " Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australes " (" Voyage of 

 Discoveries in Austral Lands ") are exact — locality, indication of 

 sex, dimensions, &c. 



2. The Emu of Kangaroo Island presented a sexual dimorphism 

 fairly well accentuated, especially in the more considerable 

 dimensions of the male, and this in conformity with what was 

 shown by his congeners of King Island. Were there also differ- 

 ences of plumage in the two sexes ? It is possible. 



3. The specimen whose skin is preserved in the Museum is a 

 female ; but among the living individuals brought back the other 

 sex must have been represented, since Lesueur has also drawn a 

 male. Now, the skeletons of the two individuals brought over 

 at the same time as the preceding have been preserved — the one 

 we know is in Paris, the other in Florence — and each bears 

 inscribed on its very bones, in old handwriting, the indication, 

 " Casoar, male." Let us compare, in these three birds, what 

 may be compared — the length of the tarso-metatarsus and that 

 of a digit (the specimen whose skin has been preserved and 

 mounted still possesses the bones of these parts) : — 



'rarso- Metatarsal. Medial Finger. 



Skeleton, <J, Paris ... ... 280 cm. ... 116 cin.* 



Skeleton, <J, Florence ... ... 240 „ ... 106 „ * 



Skin, ? (?), Paris ... ... 195 „ ... 100 „ t 



* The horny covering of the ungual phalanx is absent. 



t The horny covering of the ungual phalanx is present. Its length is 

 included in the measurement given. 



