THE EMEUS. 35 



THE EMEUS, 



IN THE ROYAL MENAGERY, TOWER OF LONDON. 



With the exception of the ostrich, the emeu is the largest bird that is known to exist, being generally 

 six feet high, measuring from its head to the ground. Its legs are about three feet long, and its 

 thigh is nearly as thick as that of a man. The toes differ from those of the ostrich, agreeing with the 

 cassowaries in regard to number, there being three on each foot, whereas the ostrich has but two ; all 

 of them have a forward direction, and are extremely thick and short. Its neck is long, its head small, 

 and one of its most distinctive generic characters is the flattening of its bill from above downwards, 

 instead of from side to side. The form of the body appears round, the wings are short, and entirely 

 unfitted for flying, and it is wholly destitute of tail. It is covered from the back to the rump with long 

 feathers, which are of a greyish-brown above, and underneath of a much lighter tinge, almost approach- 

 ing to a white. The colour, however, differs in the younger birds, they being striped longitudinally 

 with brown and grey. Its pace is uncommonly swift, and it appears to be assisted in its motion 

 by a kind of tubercle behind like a heel, upon which, on plain ground, it treads very securely. In its 

 course it uses a very singular kind of action, lifting up one wing, which it keeps elevated for a time, 

 and then, on letting it drop, it lifts up the other. It is not easy to discover the intent of the bird ni 

 thus keeping only one wing up ; and it remains to be ascertained whether it makes use of this wing 

 as a sail to catch the wind, or as a rudder to direct its course, it being wholly destitute of the usual 

 appendage by which the flight of birds is regulated. 



The birds from which our portrait is taken are natives of New Holland, where they are hunted by 

 the colonists as an article of food, the taste of which is stated to have a strong similarity to that of 

 beef. It is not, however, only in New Holland that this bird is bred ; for it is mentioned by the earlier 

 travellers as having been found in great numbers in Guiana, along the banks of the Oroonoko, in 

 the inland provinces of Brazil and Chili, and the vast forests that border on the mouth of the river 

 Plata. Many other parts of South America were known as the habitat of the emeu, but as the 

 human race extended themselves, it either fell beneath their superior power, or fled from their vicinity. 



The emeu is a polygamous bird, and appears in its habits to have a strong affinity to the 

 ostrich ; for, speaking of this bird, Nuremberg says, " that it is very peculiar in the hatching of it* 

 young. The male compels twenty or thirty of the females to lay their eggs in one nest, and when 

 they have done laying, he chases them away, and undertakes himself the office of incubation ; he, 

 however, previously takes the precaution of laying two of the eggs aside, which he does not sit upon." 

 This is perfectly conformable to the account given by Vaillant of the habits of the ostrich, and, 

 therefore, is not unworthy of our belief. " When the young ones come forth," Nuremberg continues, 

 " these two eggs are addled, which the male having foreseen, breaks them, and their putrid contents 

 become immediately the resort of myriads of flies, which supply the young brood with a sufficiency 

 of provision, until they be able to obtain it for themselves." 



10 . L 



