12 THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 



Food. — Chiefly vegetable, herbage, fruit, etc. 



Gait. — A walk or run, often very rapid. They swim 

 well and readily. 



Note. — A boom or prolonged guttural sound. 



Disposition and General Habits. — These birds are 

 intelligent, and have considerable courage and 

 inquisitiveness. The foot is used in fighting. 



Economic Qualities. — There is not much to be said on 

 this head ; the skins are useful as rugs. 



Captivity. — The birds of this family do well in 

 captivity ; they have bred, and Emus, at any rate, 

 have reared their young frequently. 



Distribution and Important Species. — The family 

 falls into two sections — the Cassowaries proper, 

 with a helmet on the bare head when adult, with 

 spine-like (secondary) quills in the wing, and with 

 the claw of the inner toe enlarged and spike-like. 

 They are black when adult, chestnut in first plu- 

 mage. They inhabit the Papuan Islands, except 

 one found in North Australia, and live in forests ; 

 there are about a dozen species, chiefly distinguished 

 by the colours of the brilliant bare skin of the 

 head and neck, which is generally produced into 

 wattles. The best known is the Common 

 Cassowary {Casuarius galeatus). 



Emus have the head feathered with no helmet, 

 and no spine-like secondary quills or enlargement of 

 the inner claw. They inhabit open plains. Only 

 one species, the speckled-grey Common Emu 

 {Dromaeus novcB-hollandice) is living, and is well 

 known in Australia. The Dwarf Black Emu {D. 

 peroni), of Kangaroo Island, has, however, only 

 become extinct within the last hundred years. 



