458 THE FKiTHERED TRIBES. 



* 



carrots. All its food was swallowed without being bruised. In summer it drank about 

 four pints of water in the day, and in winter somewhat more. 



This bird was sometimes ill-tempered and mischievous. It was grcfltly irritated when 

 any person approached it dressed in red clothes, or of a dirty and ragged appearance ; 

 and it frequently attempted to strike them by kicking forwards with one of its foot. It 

 has been known even to leap out of its inclosurc, and to tear the legs of a man with its 

 claws. 



jV cassowar)', at the same time, in Exeter 'Cliange, could not be regarded as an ill- 

 tempered bird. It was driven many times out of its cage, every day, by its keeper, for 

 the inspection of visitors. It ran without any apparent concern, for some time, about the 

 room, and allowed oxen strangers to handle it without any resistance ; and after a while 

 it returned quietl}' to its cage. 



Ordinarily this bird appears to be dull ; and its disagreeable voice and hard black flesh 

 offer no compensation for the cost of rearing and supporting it. The wild cassowary 

 feeds on fruits, tender roots, and occasionally on the young of small animals. The tamo 

 ones which have appeared in our zoological gardens are fed not only on fruits Init on 

 bread, of which each one receives about four pounds a day. 



These birds I'un very swiftly, and often outstrip the fleetest horses. They resist dogs 

 b}' dealing them ^'ery severe blows with their feet. The male bird generally leaves his 

 mate to the cares of incubation, which arc required only at night ; for, during the day, 

 the three grayish eggs, spotted with green, are exposed to the vivifying heat of the sun, 

 being slightly covered with sand in the hole where they were laid. In cajjtivity, their 

 incubation lasts eight and twenty days. 



Tliere appears to bo but little difference in colour between the two sexes ; but the 

 yomig, on first qiutting the shell, have a much more elegant livery. A brood of these 

 birds was hatched, some years ago, in the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park. 

 Their ground colour was grayish-white, marked with two longitudinal broad black 

 stripes along the back, and two similar ones on either side, each subdivided by a narrow 

 middle line of white. These stripes were continued along the neck without subdivision, 

 and were broken on the head into irregular spots. Two other broken stripes passed 

 down the fore part of the neck and breast, and terminated in a broad band passing 

 on eitlier side across the thighs. The bill and legs were of a dusky hue, as in the fully- 

 grown bird. Tlie young bird has not the helmet of tlic adults, and his plumes are of a 

 light red colour, mixed with gray. 



THE APTERIX.* 



This is an exceedingly curious bird. In 1812, Captain Barclay, of the ship 

 "Providence," brought a specimen from New Zealand, and i)resonted i( 1o Dr. Sliaw. 

 On iho death of that eminent man it came into possession of tlie lat^ Earl of Derbj-, 

 fhc president of the Zoological Society of London, distinguished for his munificent 

 patronage of zoology, and for his beautiful and valuable collection, both of living animals 

 and preserved birds. A specimen has lately been added to the gardens of the Zoological 

 Society. 



Tliougli the Apterix has no wings, yet tlicro are small members growing ou( of the 

 l)art of tlie body from which the wings of birds arise. Tlie fealhers are soft and ilc.\iblo, 

 and furnished with extremely fine hair, so that the covering of the Apterix has, at a (lis 

 taiicc, exactly the ai^pearanee of coarse fur. 



* Di-onncciiis Novic Zpnlniidiir. An engraving of thi.s liiiil vvill hv loviiid ii( jw^'o CI. 



