FAM. DROMATID& 
BY L. BRASIL 
two Pern Dromatide and Casuartidw, are often noes in a same Grciler 
Casuarii, Casuartiformes, or Megistanes. 

Characters. Next to the Ostrich, Emus are the largest of existing birds, Dromaius 
novehollandia standing more than 1 m. 50 high. 
The head is relatively small, devoid of helmet; the crown is covered with semi-erect or 
recurved feathers; the sides of face are more or less bare and show hair-like bristles. The bill 
is moderate, broad, dorso-ventrally depressed; the culmen is elevated at the base. The nostrils, 
about the middle of the bill in position, are impervious and placed in a large membranous 
groove with the opening anteriorly; they are not protected by an opercule. The neck is long, 
bare on the sides of its upper part, feathered elsewhere, devoid of wattles. The wings are rudi- 
mentary, without real quills; the degenerate remiges, seventeen in number, possessing an 
aftershaft, are similar to the body feathers; an ala spuria is wanting. The rectrices are undis- 
tinguishable, so that the tail is not apparent. The tibiae are wholly feathered. The metatarsi 
are long, more slender, and less powerful than in Caswarius; they are covered posteriorly 
with a series of rough scales, in front with small reticulate plates, which gradually fuse to 
form ten large tranverse scutes placed on the distal third. Three front toes are present, the 
inner being the shortest. There is no hallux. The claws, about equally large, are short and 
strong. The planta is covered with small reticulate plates, Feathers have an aftershaft extremely 
large, equal to the main shaft, as in Casuarius, but they are less desintegrated, so that the 
plumage is less hair-like, more softer. The general colouration is blackish, brown, or ashy-grey. 
An uropygium is distinctly traceable in the nestling, much more easily demonstrable in 
the ripe embryo (Pycraft). 
