THE EDINBURGH 



JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



AND OF 



THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES. 



JUNE, 1839. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION 



FORMING FOB. THE 



EDINBURGH ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS ASSOCIATION. 

 (Contributed by a Member.) 



(I. k II.) DROM.EUS NOV.* HOLLANDS. 

 NEW HOLLAND EMU. 



Classification —Order Rasobes. Family Struthionid*:. Genera 

 Struthio, Rhea, Casuarius, Drom/EUs, Apteryx. 



Synonyms and Figures — New Holland Cassowary. White's Journal 

 of a Voyage to New South Wales, pi. 1 (very indifferent), copied in 

 Shaw's Naturalist's Miscellany, pi. 99. Casoarius Nowe Hollands, 

 Latham, Ind. Orn. 665. Casoar de la Nouvelle Hollande, Peron, 

 Voy. aux Terres Australes, pi. 66 (indifferent). Dromaius Ater, 

 L'Emu noir, Vieillot, Galerie des Ois, pi. 226 (tolerable). The Emeu 

 Dromaius Nov^: Hollandue, Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological 

 Society delineated, Vol. II. p. 193 (wood-cut excellent). 



Description .— The Bill straight, depressed on the sides, slightly keeled 

 above, rounded at the point, dull black. The Nostrils large, opening 

 upwards, placed in the middle of the bill. The Head feathered, without 

 a bony crest. The Throat blueish, naked, and without wattles. The 

 Feathers brown mottled with grey above, dirty grey beneath, the barbs 

 loose and separate, resembling hair at a distance ; feathers arising in pairs 

 from the same shaft. The Wings very short. No Quill Feathers 

 either in the wings or tail. The Legs powerful, fleshy, and feathered to 

 the joint. The Tarsus or Shank blackish, naked, deeply indented. 

 Three Toes nearly of equal length, directed forwards, and furnished with 

 blunt nails. 



The Male is above five feet in height; the Female resembles the 

 male, but is somewhat less. The Eggs, from six to thirteen in number, 

 are large, of a rich dark green. The Young are greyish-white, with two 

 broad black stripes along the back, and two on each side continuing to 

 the neck; a narrow middle line of white between each; the head marked 

 with irregular spots, dark bands along the fore-part of the neck and breast, 

 a broad band on each side across the thighs. 



History The Emu, peculiar to New Holland and the adjacent islands, 



was first described in the year 1 789, in Governor Phillip's Voyage to Botany 

 Bay. It was then very abundant in the neighbourhood of that colony, but 

 has now been driven by the settlers into the remote plains of the interior. 

 The skin is particularly valued for its oil, a full-grown bird yielding six or 

 seven quarts of a beautiful bright colour. This oil produces no disagree- 

 able smell, and is excellent for burning, and as a liniment for sprains or 

 bruises in the Cattle. The flesh is eaten by Europeans ; the rump part 

 is said to be delicate like fowl, the legs coarse like beef, but still tender. 

 The natives regard the flesh with its oily skin as a highly delicate treat, and 

 t\\e fibula bone of the leg is occasionally passed through the cartilage of 

 the nostril as an ornament. 



The remarkable peculiarity in the structure of its feathers deserves a 

 more particular notice. Two slender shafts, extremely flaccid, arise from 

 one small quill. The feather resembles a dried plant in texture, is soft, 

 close, and flossy at the base, but widens gradually, and grows harder to- 

 wards the tip. Its colour is brownish-grey, becoming gradually white 



towards the quill. Incapable alike of resisting water or containing air, 

 it seems to be adapted only for a bird which depends for safety on its 

 swiftness of foot. 



The young of quadrupeds are generally covered with a light or spotted 

 livery, which gradually assumes the sombre tints of the adult, while the 

 female most commonly resembles the male. In Birds, on the contrary, 

 we find the females and young with plumage of sombre hue, while the 

 young males gradually acquire the brilliant tints peculiar to the adult 

 male. In these respects, the Emus bear resemblance to the mammi- 

 ferous animals. They crop grass like an herbivorous quadruped, are 

 swift of foot, and possess great keenness of vision. They are hunted 

 most readily early in the morning : after a sharp run the Dogs over- 

 take them, when they are easily thrown down and destroyed. The 

 kick of the Emu, like that of the Ostrich, is very powerful, sufficient to 

 break a Man's leg. The Dogs, trained to this kind of coursing, avoid 

 these dangerous kicks by running abreast of the game, and springing at 

 its neck. 



The Emu, originally savage, soon becomes domesticated. When rest- 

 ing, it squats down like a Hen, its neck curved like an S, and the head 

 reposing on the naked neck. Frequently it stands in a grotesque attitude 

 upon the tarsi and feet jointly. 



The nest of the wild birds is formed in the following manner: A re- 

 tired situation in a scrub among the hills is scraped, similar to those formed 

 by the Common Hen ; sticks and leaves are laid round the cleared place, 

 and the eggs are deposited without regard to regularity. These e""s are 

 usually from nine to thirteen in number, and the male assists the female in 

 the duties of incubation. Immense quantities of the eggs are devoured 

 by the natives during the breeding season. The Emu has often bred in 



captivity, but the eggs seldom exceed seven in number. (See Bennett's 



Wanderings in New South Wales, SfC.) 



Anatomy — The Emu, in respect to its internal organs, bears a treat 

 analogy to the Ostrich. A large membranous pouch, formed by the dila- 

 tation of the oesophagus, opens into a very small gizzard, so small that 



White asserted that the Emu had no gizzard. The liver is likewise very 

 small, the gall-bladder very large. The crop is usually filled with several 

 pounds of grass, flowers, seeds, and berries. The intestinal canal is at 

 least six yards long, very wide, and of a very cylindrical shape. The 

 windpipe is very long, and opens into a large muscular pouch, the use 

 of which is doubtful. We shall here, however, supply the words of its 

 able discoverer. " It may here be stated, that in this bird the rings of the 

 windpipe are complete, from their commencement at the upper larynx to 

 about the fifty-second, when the next rings suddenly open by a wide 

 aperture into a strong muscular bag, as large as the human head, closely- 

 attached to the sides of the trachea, and expanded rings. This bag is 

 situated in the neck, immediately above the bone called the merry-thought ; 

 it was seen by me in the female, though it is probable that the male also 

 possesses it. It is quite peculiar to the bird, no such appendage haviDg 

 been ever seen attached to the trachea of any of the feathered creation ; 

 nor do I know of any thing analogous to it in any other animal, excepting 

 in the Cameleon, to the upper portion of whose trachea there is appended 

 a comparatively large membranous bag." Dr Knox believes that this ex- 

 traordinary bag performs the important function of enabling the bird to 

 swim, and to preserve life amidst the extensive marshes composing cen- 

 tral New Holland, and to escape also from those sudden inundations to 



