Why is an emu staring out of a shed?

Several people have asked me why there is an emu staring out of the stable door on the front cover of View Points and Points of View . My hugely talented photographer friend, and joint author, Chris Robbins, took all of the images within this highly illustrated book, including the striking image used for the cover.

It’s a long story … but not a tall one …
Chris’s son Ben was given a large emu egg by someone who thought it was most likely infertile, thinking that Ben would probably blow the yolk out and use the emptied shell as an ornament. Ben was only thirteen at the time, but living on the family farm, was very interested in all aspects of nature. He was determined to find out if there was any chance that the egg was fertile and asked around to local farmers to see if he could borrow an incubator. He was eventually lent one and put it into his bedroom, the egg being carefully placed inside. He kept a regular check on the humidity levels and turned the egg several times a day. He carried on doing this for more than seven weeks. Normal hen’s eggs hatch within three weeks. But hatch it did, to the amazement of most people who thought Ben was wasting his time. The emu chick was so much bigger than an ordinary chick that it lifted the lid of the incubator every time it stood up. Because of its youthful striped plumage it was named Humbug, after the stripy boiled sweets of that name. Humbug went on to be a popular member of the farmyard community and would from time to time put its long neck through any open kitchen window to see if it could pinch some biscuits or other treats when no-one was looking! There is a full photo of Humbug, which accompanies the poem Ostri-Sized.

So although the encyclopaedia states that emus are only found in Australia, Humbug is a Cornish emu and is proud to contradict this statement.