DROMAEIDAE 



37 



and spots on the head and lower parts. The sexes are similarly 

 coloured, both possessing a remarkable tracheal pouch, connected 

 by a slit with the windpipe, and only fully developed in adults.^ 

 In their general habits Emeus are not unlike Cassowaries, 

 but they inhabit sandy plains or open forest districts, being 

 invariably monogamous, though seen in small parties after breed- 

 ing. Their sight is keen, they run strongly and rapidly, rest on 

 the whole metatarsus, and kick out backwards towards the side. 



Fig. 11. — Emeu. Droviaeus nmae-hollandiae. x ■^. 



The food is of fruit, roots, and herbage, generally obtained in 

 the morning or evening ; water is freely drunk, and the birds 

 love bathing, being capable of crossing even a broad river. They 

 utter at times a hissing or grunting sound, but in the nesting 

 season a peculiar loud booming or drumming note is produced, 

 probably in connexion with the tracheal pouch. The nest may 

 be a mere hollow scraped in the ground, with or without a sur- 

 rounding ring of grass or plant-stems, or a mound of bark-scales 

 some three inches high ^ ; the eggs are from seven to thirteen in 

 number, or even more, and are of a dark, or occasionally light, 



1 Cf. Murie, P.Z.S. 1867, p. 405. 



- North, Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds, Sydney, 1889, p. 293. 



