36 THE WONDERS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



Another account, however, is given by Wafer, who asserts, that he has seen a great number of eggs 

 of the emeu on the desert shores north of the river Plata, where they were buried in the sand, in. 

 order to be hatched by the heat of the climate. This account, however, is attended with a consider- 

 able degree of doubt, as it is more probable that the eggs described by Wafer were those of the croco- 

 dile or the alligator, which are undoubtedly hatched in the manner alluded to by T that traveller. 



When the young ones are hatched, they are very familiar, and will follow the first person whom 

 they meet. I have been followed myself, says Wafer, by many of these young birds, which, at first, 

 are extremely harmless and simple, but as they grow older, they become more cunning and distrustful, 

 and their pace is then so swift, that a greyhound can scarcely overtake them. 



It would not be a difficult task to rear flocks of these birds in this country, particularly as they are 

 naturally of a familiar disposition, and they might be found to answer domestic purposes, like the hen 

 or the turkey. It must, however, be acknowledged that a full grown emeu would cut rather a 

 preposterous figure on an English dinner-table ; but that the breed is capable of being extended in 

 this country, is placed beyond a doubt, by the facility with which the birds have been bred in the 

 Hoyal Park at Windsor, where a sufficient space of ground has been allotted to them for exercise, 

 which contributes, in an eminent degree, to preserve them in that state of health which they there 

 exhibit. 



The emeu in its disposition appears to be perfectly harmless, although when irritated it strikes a 

 very severe blow with its beak, which appears, indeed, to be its only instrument of attack or defence ; 

 and, in several instances, we have observed its propensity to strike at objects from a spirit of mischief, 

 or rather, perhaps, to satisfy its voracious appetite with the first object that should happen to come 

 within its range. We were once standing before its cage examining the correctness of the drawing, 

 when, on a sudden, the male bird made a dart at the paper, and in a moment bore it away in 

 triumph in its beak, nor was it recovered without some difficulty. 



In its mode of feeding, the emeu, however, differs greatly from both the ostrich and the cassowary. 

 These birds are well known to swallow almost any thing which is not too large to pass down their throats ; 

 but the emeu appears to be a granivorous bird, and, in some respects, also an herbivorous one, as it 

 has been known to subsist for a considerable length of time solely on grass ; in its domesticated state, 

 however, in this country, its chief food is corn. Nor in its appetite is it so voracious as the cassowary, 

 which in this country has been known to devour in one day four pounds of bread, a dozen large 

 apples, and a bunch of carrots. 



The chase of the emeu forms a considerable part of the amusement of the natives of the countries 

 in which it is indigenous ; but the swiftness of the bird is so great, that the fleetest dogs are thrown 

 out in the pursuit. It is related that one of them, finding itself surrounded by the hunters, darted 

 among the dogs with such fury, that they made way to avoid its rage, and it escaped, by its amazing 

 velocity, in safety to the mountains. 



There is a peculiarity in the structure of the feathers of the emeu which is not discernible in any 

 other species of the tribe. They are apparently double, each quill being divided at the root into two 

 shafts, the barbs of which are distinct from each other, and in their texture are soft and downy. At 

 a distance they assume rather the appearance of a silky covering of hair, than that of the common 

 plumage of a bird. 



