2336 



THE TIN AM US, FLIGHTLESS BIRDS, ETC. 



the preceding group in the form of the helmet, differs by having but one undivided 

 wattle. Lastly, we have the third group characterized by the circumstance that 

 the helmet is flattened from above, or depressed, while wattles are absent; this 

 group being exclusively Papuan, and represented by the Papuan cassowary (C. 

 papuanus) of Northern New Guinea, Westermann's cassowary (C. westermanni} 

 from the island of Jobie, the painted cassowary ( C. picticollis] confined to the south- 

 ern half of New Guinea, and Bennett's cassowary (C. bennetti) from New Britain. 

 Fossil remains of an extinct cassowary have been obtained from the superficial 

 deposits of Australia; and, in its whole distribution, the genus corresponds very 

 closely with the Australasian pouched mammals, none of its representatives occur- 

 ring to the west- 

 ward of the deep 

 channel sepa- 

 rating Celebes 

 and lyombok 

 from Borneo and 

 Java, and known 

 asWallace' s line. 

 I n appearance, 

 owing to the 

 brilliant hues of 

 blue, green, and 

 red on the naked 

 skin of the head 

 and neck, cou- 

 pled with the 

 glossy sheen of 

 the blue-black 

 plumage, casso- 

 waries are per- 

 haps the hand- 

 somest of all the 

 Ratittz. The 

 largest species of 

 all, and the one 

 i n which the 



horn-colored helmet attains the greatest developmen., is the Australian cassowary, 

 which, when erect, stands considerably over five feet in height. Among its dis- 

 tinctive features is the fine cobalt-blue tint of the throat and fore-neck, and the red 

 terminal flaps of the deeply -divided wattle; the Ceram species having the throat 

 and fore-neck dull purple. Of the species without wattles, Bennett's cassowary 

 the muruk of the natives has the neck entirely blue; while in Westermann's 

 cassowary the fore part of the neck is blue and the hinder portion red; the reverse 

 of this characterizing the painted-necked species. Nestlings have the plumage 

 mottled, while at a later stage the color is tawny. 



SKUI<I OF AUSTRALIAN CASSOWARY. 

 (From Sir W. H. Flower, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1871.) 



