AVES— EMEU. 



617 



THE NEW HOLLAND EMEU.i 



This bird has been so scientifically described by Mr Bennett, from speci- 

 mens in the Tower, that we cannot do better than to adopt his description. 

 " The distinctive generic characters of the New Holland emeu, which forms 

 part of the ostrich family, and is, with the sole exception of the ostrich, the 

 largest bird known to exist, consist in the flattening of its bill from above 

 downwards, instead of from side to side ; in the absence of the bony process 

 which crests the head of the cassowary, of the wattles which depend from 

 his neck, and of the long spurlike shafts which arm his wings ; and in the 

 equal, or nearly equal, length of all his claws. The emeus, however, agree 

 with .the cassowaries in the number of their toes, three on each foot, all of 

 them directed forwards, and extremely thick and short, the posterior toe, 

 which is common in most of the order, being in them entirely wanting; in 

 the excessive shortness of their wings, which do not even, as is the case 

 with the ostriches, assist them in running, much less in flight, of which, in 

 common with the latter, they are absolutely incapable ; and in the structure 

 of their feathers, which are for the most part double, each tube being divid- 

 ed near its origin into two shafts, the barbs of which are soft, downy, and dis- 

 tinct from each other, and assume at a distance rather the appearance of a 

 silky covering of hair, than that of the common plumage of birds. 



" The New Holland bird has the head and upper pan of the neck thinly 

 covered with slender black feathers ; the space around the ears being alone 

 left bare, and exhibiting, as well as the neck and throat, which are but 



1 Dromaius Nova HoUandiae, Shaw. This is the only individual of the genus. Its 

 characteristics are, bill straight, the edges greatly depressed, tip rounded ; head feathered ; 

 throat naked ; feet three-toed, the toes placed before ; wings very short. 



7S 



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