HON. W. ROTHSCHILD ON THE GEKUS CASUAKIUS. 131 



description of it. Wallace (1857) tells us that a Cassowary (which lie calls C. galeatus) 

 is not at all uncommon in the Aru Islands, that tlie young are brought in numbers to 

 Dobbo, where they soon become tame, running about the streets, and picking up all 

 sorts of refuse food. It is probable that the birds he saw were mostly C. hicarun- 

 culatus. A sternum only was procured by Wallace. 



Our first knowledge of the actual home of this bird is due to von Rosenberg, 

 who (' Reis naar Zuidoostereil.') actually shot a Cassowary on the Aru Islands on April 

 15th, 1SG5, which he called C. yaleatus, but which pro\ed to be C. biranmcnlatus. He 

 tells us (from native sources) that the pairing-season is in June and July, and that the 

 sexes live separate exce])t at that time of the year : that the female makes a sort of 

 rt)ugh nest and sits on the eggs for about 28 days ; but both these latter reports are 

 doubtless erroneous, as the observations in the Zooloj;ical Gardens have proved that 

 it is the male alone which sits, and that the time of incubation is much longer. 

 Rosenberg also tells us that not more than five eggs are found in the nest, and that 

 some more eggs are placed outside the nest to serve as food for the young when 

 hatched ! This ridiculous story— which is also told of the Ostrich— is, it is needless to 

 say, just as reliable as the former assertions. In spite of his want of knowledge of the 

 habits of the birds, however, Rosenberg deserves full credit for discovering the home 

 of C. bicanin culatus, which he obtained in the northern Aru Islands, Kabroor and 

 Wammer. The native name of this bird in Aru is " Kudari." Specimens have from 

 time to time arrived alive in Euroi-e, aiul 1 have now two alive, both received when 

 almost chicks. 



Eggs from the Aru Islands have been described as those of C. bicarunculutus, but as 

 two or three Cassowaries are found in that group of islands, there is not a jjriori any 

 absolute certainty about any of these eggs, which, however, do not seem to differ very 

 remarkably from those of V. casuarius and its aUies. The egg identified as €. hicarua- 

 culatus in Nehrkoru's collection is said by Schalow (Journ. f. Orn. 1894, p. lU) to be 

 from the Fly River, but in Nehrkoru's ' Katalog der Eiersammlung ' it is said to 

 be from the Aru [slands ! ! It is iherefore not an egg to depend on. Nehrkorn says 

 that it is so dark blue-green that it resembles the eggs of Dronueus, and that it 

 measures 133 :9U ram. According to Schalow its glazed granulations are less 

 continuous and less numerous than th.jse of C. casuarms, but this may be an individual 

 character. Schalow also distinguishes between Cassowary eggs that aie " durch- 

 scheinend" and " undurchscheinend " when held against the light; but this is by no 

 means a specific difference, being mostly due to the way in which the eggs are emptied, 

 and the thickness of the egg-shell varies also considerably. 



Four eggs in the Leyden Museum from Kabroor, collected by Rosenberg, have more 

 or less lost" their original green colour, but agree in other respects. The corrugations 

 are more or less interrupted and more or less elevated. The measurements are :— 

 129:87, 132:87, 121:82, 129:80 mm. 



