50 



RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



and rapid rivers, and even from island to 

 island in the baj'^s. They swim slowly, 

 with the greater part of the body immersed, 

 and the neck extended a little forwards. 

 On two occasions I saw some ostriches 

 swimming across the Santa Cruz River, 

 where it is 400 yards wide and the stream 

 rapid." It is polygamous ; the male bird 

 prepares the nest, collects the eggs, which 

 are frequently laid by the females at random 

 on the ground, and performs all the duties 

 of incubation. Darwin says four or five 

 females have been known to la}' in the 

 same nest, and the male, when sitting, lies 

 so close that he himself nearly rode over 

 one. At this time they are ver}' fierce, and 

 have been known to attack a man on 

 horseback, trying to kick and leap on him. 

 The Australian Emu. — The Emu of 

 Australia, Dromaius Nova'. HoUandicey is 

 nearly as large as the African ostrich, mea- 

 suring from five feet to seven feet in height. 

 It has three toes on each foot, and these 

 are furnished with nearly equal claws. 

 The head and neck are covered with 

 feathers, the throat being bare ; the plum- 

 age of the bod}', closely resembling long 

 hairs, hangs down on each side of the body, 

 from a central line or parting. These 

 birds, at one time abundant in Australia, 

 are now becoming extinct, for natives and 

 Europeans are fast thinning them, the 

 former eating the eggs, and hunting down 

 the emeus for food, but not allowing boys 

 or women to partake of it, the flesh being 

 reserved for warriors and counselors. 

 Europeans and settlers run it with dogs, 

 trained on purpose, for food, sport, and 

 also for a valuable oil, of which as much 

 as six or seven quarts are yielded b}- a 

 single emeu. This oil is of a light yellow 

 color, is used as an embrocation for bruises 

 or strains, and, not readily congealing or 

 becoming glutinous, is also useful for oiling 

 the locks of firearms. The birds are mono- 

 gamous, the male performing the office of 

 incubation ; the nest is made b}- scooping 

 out a shallow hole in the ground in some 

 scrubby spot, and in this depression a 

 variable number of eggs is laid. Dr. Ben- 

 nett remarks that " there is always an odd 

 number, some nests having been discovered 

 with nine, others with eleven, and others 

 with thirteen." These eggs are nearly as 

 large as those of the Ostrich, but of a dark 



green color, arid the 3'oung, when first 

 hatched, are elegantly striped with black 

 and gray. In defending itself it does not 

 kick forward like the Ostrich, but sideways 

 and backwards like a cow. 



The Cassoiuary and the Mooruk. — The 

 Cassowaries, of which there are two — the 

 Cassowai'y proper, Casuarius galeatus, and 

 the Mooruk, Casuarius Benettii — are 

 natives of the Eastern Archipelago. The 

 former, standing five feet high, is distin- 

 guished b}' the possession of a peculiar 

 horny crest or helmet upon the head, by 

 the wings being furnished, instead of 

 feathers, with about five cylindrical stalks, 

 destitute of barbs, and by the large size of 

 the claw on the inner toe. The head and 

 neck are naked and wattled, and of a bright 

 red, variegated with blue. The rest of the 

 body, which is very stout, is clothed with 

 long, gloss}' black pendent feathers, more 

 closely resembling hair than those of the 

 Emu. It feeds upon herbs, fruit, and 

 seeds, and, like the Ostrich, swallows hard 

 substances. The eggs are of a greenish 

 tint. The eye is fierce and resolute, and 

 the character of the bird is tetchy, and apt 

 to take offence without any apparent provo- 

 cation. Scarlet cloth excites its ire, and it 

 has a great antipathy to ragged and dirty 

 persons. The height of the Mooruk is 

 three feet to the top of the back, and five 

 feet when standing erect. The color is 

 rufous, mixed with black on the back and 

 hinder portions of the body, and raven- 

 black about the neck and breast ; the loose 

 wavy skin of the neck is colored with iri- 

 descent tints of bluish purple, pink, and an 

 occasional shade of green ; the feet and legs 

 are large and strong, of a pale ash-color, 

 and exhibit a peculiarity in the extreme 

 length of the claw of the inner toe of each 

 foot, it being nearly three times the length 

 of the claws of the other taes. Instead of 

 the helmet-like protuberance of the Casso- 

 wary, it has a horny plate resembling 

 mother-of-pearl darkened with black-lead. 



The Penguins. — Another set of birds, if 

 not wingless, must also be mentioned. 

 These are the Penguins, in which birds the 

 wings are reduced to a rudimentary charac- 

 ter, are destitute of quills, and are covered 

 with a scaly skin, forming flat, fin-like 

 paddles, the scales being rudimentary 

 feathers. In the water, which appears 



