288 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
Emu Wren, a species which is little known, both 
because of its shyness and also of the remoteness of 
its haunts. It is a beautiful little bird, and interesting 
if only on account of its extraordinary tail. The 
feathers of which this is composed are long and skele- 
tonised, suggesting at once the feathers of the Emu 
(whence the name), or the inner ones of the tail of 
the Lyre-bird. So fine are they that when the bird 
is in flight it is hard to see the tail against a dark 
background, and the tiny creature seems to have 
none at all. Both sexes have the long tail, but the 
male may be known from the female by the royal-blue 
colouring of his throat. 
Many pairs still inhabit the samphire scrub fringing 
the shore at Stingaree Bay and extending thence right 
round Point Henry to the Outer Harbour. There 
is a patch of similar scrub bordering the north-eastern 
side of Lake Connewarre, which I am told is also 
frequented by this species. Once I met with it in 
the lignum scrub at the Willows, on the St. Albans 
side. From the Gum Flat towards Anglesea it is 
not uncommon in long tussock-grass fringing the 
creek, and a pair or two may always be seen on Norse- 
wood Estate, where they haunt a patch of dwarf 
ti-tree growing in a valley where the soil is usually 
damp. At Airey's Inlet I have observed the birds in 
heathy country close to the sea, and they are likewise 
to be found at intervals on the heathy scrub-lands 
which extend from Wensleydale for some miles 
towards the coast. 
