116 HON. W. ROTHSCHILD ON THE GENUS CASUARIUS. 



Linnaeus, in 1758, bestowed our present specific name on this bird, calling it 

 Struthio casuarius, and diagnosing it as " Struthio pedihus tridactylis, vertice paleari- 

 busque nudis.'" He then quotes Olearius, Albin, Dodart, Bay, Clusius, Bontius, 

 Willughby, Aldrovandus, and finally adds : " Callus elevatus quasi diadema verticis. 

 Palearia duo sub collo ; coUum a tergo nudum. Ungue intermedia majore ferit ; ova 

 puuctis excavatis." 



The species is admitted by Wallace and Rosenberg to be not at all rare in the 

 interior of Ceram, but all travellers say that it is extremely shy and difficult to 

 approach, and it seems that no European naturalist has ever seen it in its wild state. 

 Ail we know about its life-history comes from native sources, and may be more or 

 less trustworthy, but it seems certain that it feeds principally on fallen fruit. The 

 eggs are said to be three to five in number; but we have had, at Tring Park, six to 

 eight laid by one female, so that we cannot believe that its clutch can regularly contain 

 three eggs only. A young Casuarius casuarius was hatched in the Society's Gardens 

 in 1867, but observations respecting the time of incubation and other interesting points 

 were apparently not made. I have never succeeded in getting a male that would 

 pair, although I have had a female which laid many eggs. The egg described by 

 Schalow (Journ. f. Orn. 1894, p. 19) is faded. There is, I am convinced, not a single 

 form of Cassowary that lays " pale greyish-green " eggs with " dark grey-green" glazed 

 granulations. In any case Casuarius casuarius lays light apple-green eggs, with darker 

 bright green corrugations. They are elliptical, the thickest zone about the centre, 

 though very often a thick and a thin end can be distinguished. The elevated 

 glazed granulations are all more or less connected, forming a labyrinthic network. 

 The measurements are:— 150 : 94, 142 : 93, 140 : 90, 131 : 90, 129 : 87, 123 : 84, 

 145 : 85 mm. 



The eggs are excellent food. Owing to their size it is difficult to boil them well in 

 the shell, and besides it requires a number of persons to finish one ; but for scrambled 

 eggs, omelettes, cakes, and other purposes they are, like those of the Rhea and Emu, 

 most excellent. 



2. Casuarius casuarius beccarii Scl. Beccari's Cassowary. (Plate XXIII.) 



1875. Casuarius beccarii Scl., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. p. 87, figs. 1, 2 oa p. 86 (Vokau, Ani 

 Islands !) ; 



1877. Forbes, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. pp. 307, 316 (anatomy) ; 



1878. A. B. Meyer, Journ. f. Orn. p. 300 ; Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civ. Genoa, xii. p. 421 ; 

 1881. Salvad., Mem. R. Ac. Sc. Torino, (2) xxxiv. p. 197 (partira : Aru only) ; 



IS82. Id., Orn. Papuas. e Molucc. iii. p. 484 (partim : Aru) ; 



1894. Schalow, Journ. f. Orn. p. 21 (egg, Aru) ; 



1895. Salvad., Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 596 (partim : Aru). 



1875. (?) Casuarius bicarunculatus (non Scl. !) Beccari, Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen. vii. p. 717 (Aru). 



