THE EMEU. 223 
ness 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 fea- 
thers, which are for the most part double, each tube 
being divided near its origin into two shafts, the barbs 
of which are soft, downy, and distinct 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 part 
of the neck thinly covered with slender black feathers ; 
the space around the ears alone being left bare, and 
exhibiting, as well as the neck and throat, which are but 
partially concealed by the scattered plumage with which 
they are provided, the blue tinge of the skin. The 
general colour of the plumage is grayish brown above, 
with a more plentiful intermixture of the gray and a 
consequent lighter tinge beneath. The young are striped 
longitudinally with brown and gray. Their bill is black, 
and their legs are remarkably thick and of a dull brown. 
The great length of the latter and of the neck, and the 
erect attitude and quiet demeanour of these birds, which 
sometimes attain as much as seven feet in height, give 
them altogether a noble and imposing appearance. They 
were formerly common in the neighbourhood of Botany 
Bay, subsisting, like the rest of their tribe, upon vege- 
table substances, chiefly fruits. They are extremely 
wild, and run with great swiftness when pursued, out- 
stripping it is said the fleetness of the greyhound. Like 
the Kanguroos, they are sometimes hunted by the colo- 
nists as articles of food; and their flesh is stated to have 
