Nests and Eggs of Emus and Cassowary of Australia, 215 
XVI. Nests and Eggs of the Emus and the Cassowary of 
Australia. By A. J. CAMPBELL, Esq., Melbourne. Com- 
municated by Joun J. Dancers, Esq. [Plate VI.] 
(Read 18th March 1896. ) 
It is with pleasure I ask your Society to accept a short 
treatise on the Nests and Eggs of the present Struthious 
Birds of Australia. 
In directing special attention to these noble and harmless 
birds, it is sad to reflect that, in all probability, these feathered 
giants will be amongst the first members of our avifauna to 
be swept off the face of the earth by the rapid and ever- 
advancing tide of civilisation, and, perhaps even sooner than 
we anticipate, be numbered with the extinct Moas of New 
Zealand and the more recently defunct Emus of Tasmania 
and Kangaroo Island. 
However, as far as the present Emus and the Cassowary 
are concerned, they are still in the hands of Australians for 
good if they (the people) choose. Provincial parliaments 
may pass enactments for the proper protection of birds and 
animals, but it surely rests with the people to see that these 
laws are strictly observed. 
In the matter of the form of this article, I have followed 
the method which I have adopted in dealing with papers on 
the “ Nests and Eggs” of other families of Australian birds, 
read before various scientific societies in Australia. 
Dromatus Nova# HoLuanpi&, Latham. 
(Emu.) 
Figure. —Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pl. 1. 
Previous Descriptions of Eggs.—Gould, Birds of Australia (1848), also 
Handbook, vol. ii., p. 203 (1865); North, Cat. Nests and Eggs 
Aust. Mus., p. 292 (1889). 
Geographical Distribution. Australia in general. 
Nest.—Usually a flat bed or platform composed of grass 
or other herbage plucked by the bird round about the site, 
