REARING EMUS

Hokitika Guardian, 13 August 1937, Page 6

REARING EMUS

TASK LEFT TO MALE.

All emu at the Auckland Zoo is at present sitting on a batch of eight.eggs.' ■ Contrary to the reGognised '.procedure in such .matters, .however, ft 7 is not the hen bird that is perfdrmihg this task, but the male. This is a:peculiaritv of emus. Authorities state.that the mMe/emu is the . outstanding example among s birds of paternal care and devotion In the natural state the hen litys?lier' eggs in different places with utter disregard as to where they might rest, and then simply abandons them. The male, a much more conscientious bird, rolls the eggs together into a nest, ruffles his feathers over them, and settles down to hatch the chicks.

Perhaps lie is of meditative disposition, for lie seems to, enjoy this siniplo task of sitting, although jt involves long weeks of ceaseless care. He cer-

tainly has imagination for if thareareno eggs available he is often quite content to nestle upon a stone oi other object. When the young are hatched it is he, and not the hen, wao finds their food and keeps them warm'at night. v The- devotion of the male bird was' exemplified in a remarkable but tragic manner at the Auckland Zoo last year. Throughout the duration of a severe hailstorm one night a parent t>ird continued to protect a solitary chick heedless of the conditions that prevailed. In the morning the older bird was found dead, b«t the chick was bene'ath its wing and still alive and warm.

On the present occasion keepers assisted the bird at the zoo to collect the batch of eggs, and the emu has been sitting fSr several days. It will not be for about nine weeks, however, before the chicks are hatched and, provided all survive, they will constitute one of the largest broods ever born in Auckland