Recently published Ornithological Works. 327 



Brasil on the King Island Emu. 



[L'llmeu de File King. L. Brasil. Bull. Soc. Linn. Norman. Oaen, 

 (6) vi. 1913, pp. 76-97.] 



There are known to have existed within historic times 

 two insular races of the Emu apart from the forms found 

 on the mainland of Australia and on Tasmania. 



Peron^ the naturalist of the French expedition which 

 visited the Australian seas between 1800 and 1804_, found an 

 Emu very abundant on King Island in Bass Straits between 

 Victoria andTasmania^ as well as on Kangaroo Island^ which 

 lies off the coast of South Australia. In a coloured plate, 

 no. xxxvi. of his report Q Voyage de D^couvertes aux Torres 

 Australe'')j he figures two Emus^ one of which has a black 

 breast the other a white breast^ which are stated to be male 

 and female respectively and. to have been taken on Kangaroo 

 Island. The only known example of the Kangaroo Island 

 Emn now existing is one of those brought to Europe by 

 Peron^ which is in the Paris Museum, and which matches 

 very well the black-breasted bird of the plate. 



Mr. Mathews, when writing his ' Birds of Australia/ 

 believed that P^ran's plate must represent two distinct 

 species of birds^ and thought that the white-breasted bird 

 must be the now totally extinct form formerly existing on 

 King Island. 



Recently a number of semi-fossil bones of the Emu have 

 been found on King Island, and have been examined by Prof. 

 Baldwin Spencer, who gave them, in consequence of the 

 smaller size, the name Dromaius minor. With this semi- 

 fossil Emu Mathews at first identified the white-breasted 

 bird of Peron, but he subsequently gave it a separate name, 

 D. spenceri, and in addition to that Col. Legge has called it 

 -D. bassi. 



In the present paper M. Brasil, who has been able to ex- 

 amine some manuscripts connected with Peron^s voyage 

 both at Havre and at Paris, endeavours to show that it is 

 extremely unlikely that Peron and Lesueur, who were for 13 

 days in December 1802 on King Island, ever obtained any 



