12 



lUKI) CALI.KHV. 



Order A". CASUARIIFOmiES. Ivmus and Cassowauiks. 

 Ill the two families (Drunueidie and Casuuniche) comprising this 

 order the wings arc still more reduced in size aud the " fingers " arc 

 represented Ijy one claw-bearing digit. The body-featlicrs have au 

 aftershaft or accessory plume as long as the main feather. 



Family I. Dhom.iud.'k. 1']mus. 

 [Case 4. The I'hnus agree with the Cassowaries in possessing a large after- 

 ■•liaft to the hoily-feathers, but the bill is broad and Hat, the head and 

 upper part of the neck have a scanty hair-like covering, and there is \w 

 horny casque or helmet or ornamental wattles. The wings are exceed- 

 ingly small aud, like the tail, entirely concealed beneath the general 

 covering of feathei's. The three toes have claws of similar form and 

 nearly equal size. 



Of the two species surviving at the present time the commou Knm 

 {Dromceiis novce-hollandia') (9) inhabits I'^asteru Australia, and tiie 

 Spotted Emu [D. irroratns) Western Australia. A small IJlack Euui 

 {D. (iter) was formerly found on the Island of Decres or Kaugaroo, but 

 is now extinct and only known from two specimens preserved in the 

 Paris ^Museum and from a skeleton in the ]\Iuseum at Florence. It is 

 possible that a fourth species existed within recent times, for the 

 Tasmanian form was apparently distinct from both the Australian 

 species. These great birds frequent the desert sandy plains and open 

 bush districts, feeding on fruit, roots, and herbage ; they are very keen- 

 sighted, aud, like their allies, run with great rapidity. Unlike the 

 Khcas and Ostriches, they are monogamous, though found in small 

 parties after the breeding-season. The female deposits her eggs, from 

 seven to thirteen or more in number, in a hollow^ scratched in the 

 ground, and the male perforins the duties of incubation, which last for 

 about eight weeks. The young are greyish white, beautifully striped 

 with black, and the eggs when first laid are of a rich sap-green, but 

 this colour gradually fades to dull greenish-black. 



The female is rather smaller than the male, aud both sexes possess a 

 remarkable pouch formed by the inner lining of the windpipe. This 

 pouch leaves the trachea through a slit in the anterior wall, aud eau be 

 inflated at the will of the bird. The iuflation is probably connected 

 with the low, resonant, booming note uttered during the nesting-season. 

 Owing to the constant persecution to which they are subjected, Jjiiius 

 are becoming scarcer year by year. JJeing hardy birds they arc easily 

 domesticated aud breed readily in parks Ijoth in this country and iu 

 Europe. 



A fossil species occurs in the Pleistocene of Qneensland and New 

 South Wales. 



