THE BLACK EMEU. 



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was formerly represented in Cyprus by the little H. minutus — the 

 " petit hippopotame fossile" of Cuvier. Again, the Common Hip- 

 popotamus of the African rivers has to-day a dwarf congener (no 

 larger than a heifer) occurring in Liberia. The Common Emeu 

 is no exception to the rule, for this great bird had once a pigmy 

 cousin which occurred on Kangaroo Island, off the south coast 

 of Australia, and was found nowhere else. This dwarf or 

 Black Emeu has unfortunately been utterly exterminated, and 

 is so rare in museums that but one stuffed specimen and two 

 skeletons are certainly known to exist. A hundred times rarer 

 than the lamented Great Auk, this vanished Dromceus is well 

 worthy of the detailed attention which we now proceed to 

 devote to it. 



Black Emeu {Dromceus ater) in the Jardin des Plantes Museum, Paris. 

 The only stuffed example known. 



The Black Emeu (D. ater) was about the size of a large 

 Bustard. In addition to its diminutive proportions, it was 

 remarkable for the curious overdevelopment of its plumage, the 

 elongated feathers hanging loosely about it, as if too ample for 

 the body which they covered. An examination which I made of 

 the Paris specimen a few months ago showed that the general 

 colour of the plumage was blackish brown, the individual 



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