Vol. XIV. 

 1914 



] Brasil, The Emu of King Island. oy 



Although expressing the existence of a fairly great variableness 

 in the dimensions of the males, these figures are not opposed in 

 any way to the adoption of the thesis sustained here, since the 

 third bird, the one that I consider a female, is still much smaller 

 than the smaller of the males. 



The skin in the museum being indeed that of a female, Lesueur 

 has then had for a long time under observation tame Emus 

 belonging to both sexes ; he has been able, consequently, to repre- 

 sent both with the greatest exactness, and to make evident the 

 differences which he could point out. Among the latter did there 

 exist a difference in the colour of the breast plumage, that of the 

 males being whitish ? No room is allowed for dispute on this 

 question, since precisely the only skin that remains to us is that 

 of a female. Another interpretation of the colouration given to 

 the breast of the male on the plate of the " Voyage aux Terres 

 Australes " is, besides, possible — that which is given above. 



4. In the actual state of our knowledge, there is no reason to 

 believe that there existed, in an age near our own, two Emus on 

 King Island. The appellation " Dromaius spencer i, Mathews," 

 is without object, and should be struck out of the nomenclature. 

 The expression, '' Dromaius minor, Spencer," should alone subsist, 

 and be applied to the sub-fossil bird — the one, doubtless, which 

 Peron and his companions have again seen. Now, was the Emu 

 of King Island different from that of Kangaroo Island ? With 

 the only remains that we possess of each of these birds it is im- 

 possible to affirm it ; but what we do know in a general way from 

 the speciaHzation of the isolated forms in the two islands allows 

 of our believing this to be so. 



^^ Stray Feathers. 



Eggs of Puffinus sphenurus. — Mr. E. S. Rohu, of Sydney, writes : 

 — As a possible record, " the following may prove interesting 

 to the ornithological world. On 2gth December, 1912, while on 

 a camping trip to Broughton Island, New South Wales, I opened 

 up several burrows in the rookeries of Puffinus sphenurus, and 

 amongst them I was fortunate enough to take Puffinus griseus 

 and eggs. This, I believe, is the first record of its being taken 

 Ijreeding in Australia. The specimen and eggs are now in the 

 collection of Mr. H. L. White, at Belltrees." 



Bird Protection in Queensland. — Dr. Hamblyn Harris, local 

 secretary of the R.A.O.U. for Queensland, has sent a copy of a 

 proclamation concerning bird protection that may cause orni- 

 thologists in the older States to look to their local proclamations, 

 with a view to advancing their State to the level of Queensland 

 in this important matter. The State has been divided into two 

 districts. There is a fine list of birds absolutely protected 



