File:Emu (4749718319).jpg

Image Description from historic lecture booklet: "Australia has also some immense birds which resemble the ostrich, although they are not quite so large. The cassowary is to be found in Queensland, and the emu is common there and in other parts of Australia. The emu is not so tall as the ostrich. Its legs are shorter and its body thicker and clumsier. Its feathers are much like coarse hair. Its color is dark brown, spotted with gray, and its wings are so short that they are almost invisible when held close to the body.

Emus can be quite dangerous. They have strong bills and they bite. They kick somewhat like a cow and hit so hard that one blow of the foot is enough to kill dog or man.

The best time for hunting emu is in the morning when the bird comes out to feed on the grass. It is chased on horseback with dogs which are trained to catch it by the neck in such a way that they cannot be easily kicked. The squatters are anxious to destroy the emus to save the grass for the sheep, and for this reason they not only shoot them but also hunt their nests and break the eggs. In one country of New South Wales ten thousand emus were killed in nine months and at one sheep station fifteen hundred eggs were found and destroyed. 

Emu eggs are enormous in comparison with a hen's egg, but are much smaller than the eggs of an ostrich. The shells are sometimes mounted in silver and used as milk jugs or sugar bowls."

Original Collection: Visual Instruction Department Lantern Slides

Item Number: P217:set 039 037

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