THE CASSOWARY. 



36.1 



Emu by early Portuguese navigators. It is the Strutkio casuarius of 

 Linnaeus, and the Casnarius galeatus of Vieillot. 



The Cassowary has a kind of helmet on its head, produced by an 

 enlargement of the bone of the skull, and covered with a horny sub- 

 stance. It is a massively-made bird, in size between the Ostrich and 

 the Rhea, and is a native of the Malaccas. It is a stupid, quarrel- 



Fig. 145. Cassowary. 



some, and gluttonous creature, feeding on plants, fruits, and some- 

 times small animals. Possessed of considerable strength, and being 

 wild and fierce in nature, its anger cannot be provoked without 

 danger ; for, although its wings are short, each is furnished with five 

 pointed spines, the middle one of which is sometimes a foot long, 

 and which are employed with adroitness as weapons of defence. 

 Its habitual cry consists of a low grumbling, which, when the bird 



