CASUARII 
Ns 
The small intestine is long and relatively narrow; the rectum ts short, nearly straight; 
the cca are of moderate length. The right lobe of the liver is larger than the left; a spigelian 
lobe is present; there is a well-developed gall bladder; the hepatic and pancreatic ducts open 
Separately into the duodenum. The trachea is peculiar in that its front wall is pierced by a long, 
vertical, slit-like median aperture, caused by the deficiency of certain of the tracheal rings in 
this region; the lining membrane of the tube projects from this opening and forms a large dila- 
table sac, which can be filled with air at will; this remarkable structure is, no doubt, an organ 
of sound, which probably produces the peculiar drumming of the bird. There are two carotids. 
Accordingly to the degenerate condition of the fore limb, many muscles have disappeared : the 
pectoralis propatagialis, biceps propatagialis, deltoides propatagialis, deltoides minor, scapulo- 
humeralis anterior, serratus metapatagialis, latissimus dorsali metapatagialis, pectoralis 
abdominalis; traces of the expansor secundariorum are said to exist; the pectoralis major is 
very reduced; the latissimus dorsi anterior is present; the rhomboideus profundus and superfi- 
cialis arise from ribs, the latter from three, the former from only one; the biceps arises from 
the whole of the coracoid and from just an adjacent bit of the sternum; the ambiens and the 
femorocaudal are wanting; all the gluteals are present; the accessory femorocaudal is very 
large; a strongly developed dermo-dorsalis is present, The vertebre are fifty-four in number, 
ot which seventeen or eighteen are cervical, nine or ten post-sacral; the atlas is notched, very 
nearly perforated; the sternum is entire and it is rather pointed at its extremity; rudimentary 
clavicles exist; the pre-coracoids are vestigial; the wing is so reduced that it is scarcely longer 
than the skull; there is no distinguishable carpal region; the metacarpals and phalanges have 
all fused into one indistinguishable rod of bone; the pubes and ischia are united posteriorly. 
with the ilium, but only by cartilage; the pectineal process is well developed; the interobtu- 
rator process is present, and shuts off an anterior portion of the obturator foramen; the femur 
is highly pneumatic, and bears a large pneumatic foramen between its head and the great 
trochanter ; the vomer is expanded into a broad flattened plate between the maxillo-palatines, 
and it 1s separated from the parasphenoidal rostrum; the beak is dorso-ventrally depressed ; 
the palatines are fenestrated posteriorly, and they are not anchylosed with pterygoids; the 
horizontal plate of the mesethmoid appears on the surface of the skull between nasals, but it is 
never inflated to form a casque; the lachrymals fuse with nasals and frontals; the supra-orbital 
processes are long. 
The anatomical characters given above are borrowed for a large part trom Beddard and 
from Pyeraft. 
Habits and Reproduction, Emus inhabit large plains or open forest districts, They are 
monogamous, but they unite in small companies after breeding. They run stongly and rapidly, 
and rest on the whole metatarsus, They love bathing, and can get through water very quickly, 
being capable of crossing even a broad river. Their food consists of all sorts of vegetable 
matters, fruits, roots, herbage, etc., but they seem to prefer fruits. They utter at times a 
hissing or grunting sound, and, in the breeding season, the peculiar drumming is produced by 
both sexes when the birds are near the nest; the male’s voice is sharper and more distinct, 
The nest is « usually a flat bed or platform composed of grass or other herbage plucked by the 
bird round about the site, and trampled down; sometimes bark, pieces of sticks, and leaves 
