THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Dromiceus australis Swainson, Class. B., II., p. 346 (1837). 
Dromaius novce-hollandioe, G. R. Gray, List. Gen. B., p. 63 (1840) ; Gould, B. Austr., VI., 
PL 1 (1848) ; G. R. Gray, Gen. B., III., p. 528 (1849) ; Sturt, Exped. Centr. Austr., 
II., App., p. 47 (1849) ; Bennett, Gath. Natur. Austr., p. 216 (1860) ; Gould, 
Handb. B. Austr., II., p. 200 (1865) ; Ramsay, P.Z.S., p. 119 (1876) ; Masters, P.L.S., 
N.S.W., II., p. 275 (1878) ; Ramsay, Tab. List. Austr. B., p. 19 (1888) ; North 
Austr. Mus. Cat., No. 12, p. 292 (1889) ; id., P.L.S., N.S.W. (2), IV., p. 1029 (1890); 
id., Rep. Horn Sc. Exp. Centr. Austr., p. 103 (1896) ; Campbell, Proc. Roy. Pbys. 
Soc., p. 215 (1896). 
Dromaius emu Homeyer J. f. O., p. 365 (1859). 
Dromoeus irroratus Bartlett, P.Z.S., p. 205 (1859) ; id., P.Z.S., p. 205 (1860) ; Sclater, P.Z.S., 
p. 211, p. 248 (1860) ; id., Trans. Zool. Soc., IV., p. 360, PI. 76 (1862) ; Salvador!, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus., XXVII., p. 589 (1895) ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. B., 
p. 1066 (1901) ; Hall, Key B. Austr., 2nd ed., p. 109 (1906). 
Dromaius irroratus Gould Handb. B. Austr., II., p. 204 (1865) ; Ramsay, Tab. List. 
Austr. B., p. 19 (1888) ; North, Austr. Mus. Cat., No. 12, p. 294 (1889) ; Campbell, 
Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc., p. 226 (1896) ; id., Viet. Nat., IV., p. 185 (1888). 
Distribution. Australia generally, except the extreme north-east. 
Adult. General colour above blackish, the feathers being brown or ashy-brown, the 
shafts and the ends of the feathers black, giving the general tone to the upper- 
surface ; sides of the body lighter than the back ; the feathers of the lower back 
and rump very long and spine-hke, black in the centre and rufescent on the margins ; 
sides of body grey, with black shaft-lines and ends to the feathers, imparting 
a spotted appearance ; crown of head with long hairy crest-plumes, black, like 
the upper hind-neck ; lower hind-neck light ashy-brown, wdth black shaft-lines 
and tips to the feathers ; lores, eyelid, sides of face and sides of neck bare and of 
a bluish-white colour, with a few hair-like bristles ; ear-coverts hidden with black 
bristly plumes, which also conceal the cheeks, but in a less degree ; throat smoky- 
grey, the chin bare. The feathers of the neck for about half-way down from the head 
are short and hair-like, joining the other feathers abruptly. This gives the bird 
the appearance of having a ruff. This ruff is whitish in very old birds. Iris hazel ; 
legs brownish-black ; bill blackish (life). Total length about 183 cm. ; bill from 
gape, 115 mm. ; tarsus, 355 ; middle toe and claw, 200. 
Immature (about half grown). General colour above greyish-brown, all the feathers 
having whitish hair-hke ends ; the feathers on the lower hind-neck and down the 
middle of the back are blackish, and impart a more or less streaked appearance ; on 
the lower back, rump and tail the feathers are much more disintegrated, and are 
brown and white in colour ; the head and neck all round (including the lower 
fore-neck) are covered with short black feathers, more thickly on the crown of the head 
and more sparsely on the neck ; a longitudinal line of white feathers on the middle 
of the chin and throat and a few intermingled on the forehead and sides of head ; 
the remainder of the under-surface silvery-grey, all the feathers more or less inter- 
mixed with brown. Total length about 92 cm. ; culmen, 53 mm. ; tarsus, 228 ; 
middle toe and claw, 95. 
Chick. Covered with down of a sooty-black colour, and with longitudinal hnes of white 
running from the hinder part of the crown to the end of the body and down the 
thighs, giving a broadly striped appearance, with whitish hair -like tips ; head 
similar in colour, but the dark portion blacker, with intensely black hair-like tips, 
the white interspaces tending rather to cross-bars ; sides of face, throat, and fore- 
neck similar, but the white increasing in proportion to the black in longitudinal 
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