Nests and Eggs of Emus and Cassowary of Australia. 229 
district, says the birds usually lay there about May and 
June; while in the south-west, Mr A. J, Bussell (Wallcliff) 
writes: “Emus lay according to the season, but never earlier 
than the middle of June, or later than middle of August.” 
In 1889, when I visited Western Australia, young Emus 
about a week old were observed on the last day of October 
by an employé of Wallcliff. In that case the eggs would 
have been laid towards the end of August. 
CASUARIUS AUSTRALIS, Wall. 
(Australian Cassowary.) 
Figure.—Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., suppl., pls. 70 and 71. 
Previous Descriptions of Eggs.—Ramsay, Proc. Zool. Soc., p. 119 
(1876); Campbell, Victorian Naturalist (1886), 
Geographical Distribution.—North Queensland. 
fest— A bed of sticks, leaves, and such-like vegetable 
débris, usually placed near the base of a large tree in dense 
scrub. 
Eggs.—Clutch 4 to 6; some authorities state 3 to 5; of a 
graceful elliptical form, and superficially like shagreen or 
rough American cloth, but not so rough or granulated as the 
Emu’s (Dromaius) egg. General appearance in colour, 
beautiful light pea-green, but if examined vertically the 
raised rough particles only of the shell will be found to 
be green, while the minute interstices are greenish-white. 
Dimensions in inches:—(1) 556x3°75; (2) 543x3°81; 
(3) 5°43 x 3°62. 
Observations.—The eggs of the Cassowary are especially 
interesting, not only for their great beauty, but for being 
the largest and amongst the rarest of Australian eggs, The 
splendid birds themselves possess a limited habitat, being 
confined to a narrow strip of coastal scrub country, about 
300 miles in length, in Northern Queensland, the southern 
boundary being the Herbert River (where the birds are now 
almost unknown), the northern limit being the Cooktown 
district in York Peninsula. 
On account of the Cassowary’s naturally restricted area 
