26 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



beards at the end of the large feathers are 

 perfectly black ; and towards the root of a 

 gray tawny colour ; shorter, more soft, and 

 throwing out fine fibres like down ; so that 

 nothing appears except the ends, which are 

 hard and black ; because the other part, com- 

 posed of down, is quite covered. There are 

 leathers on the head and neck ; but they are 

 so short and thinly sown, that the bird's skin 

 appears naked, except towards the hinder part 

 of the head, where they are a little longer. 

 The feathers which adorn the rump are ex- 

 tremely thick; but do not differ, in other re- 

 spects, from the rest, excepting their being 

 longer. The wings, when they are deprived 

 of their feathers, are but three inches long ; 

 and the feathers are like those on other parts 

 of the body. The ends of the wings are 

 adorned with five prickles, of different lengths 

 and thickness, which bend like a bow ; these 

 are hollow from the roots to the very points, 

 having only that slight substance within, 

 which all quills are known to have. The 

 longest of these prickles is eleven inches ; 

 and it is a quarter of an inch in diameter at 

 the root, being thicker there than towards the 

 extremity ; the point seems broken off. 



The part, however, which most distin- 

 guishes this animal is the head : this, though 

 small, like that of an ostrich, does not fail to 

 inspire some degree of terror. It is bare of 

 feathers, and is in a manner armed with a 

 helmet of horny substance, that covers it from 

 the root of the bill to near half the head back- 

 wards. This helmet is black before and yel- 

 low behind. Its substance is very hard, being 

 forme.d by the elevation of the bone of the 

 skull ; and it consists of several plates, one 

 over another, like the horn of an ox. Some 

 have supposed that this was shed every year 

 with the feathers ; but the most probable 

 opinion is, that it only exfoliates slowly like 

 the beak. To the peculiar oddity of this na- 

 tural armour may be added the colour of the eye 

 in this animal, which is a bright yellow, and the 

 globe being above an inch and a half in diame- 

 ter, gives it an air equally fierce and extraordi- 

 nary. At the bottom of the upper eye-lid, there 

 is a row of small hairs, over which there is 

 another row of black hair, which look pretty 

 much like an eye-brow. The lower eyelid, 

 which is the largest of the two, is furnished 

 also with plenty of black hair. The hole of 

 the ear is very large and open, being only 

 covered with small black feathers. The sides 

 of the head, about the eye and ear, being des- 

 titute of any covering, are blue, except the 

 middle of the lower eye-lid, which is white. 

 The part of the bill which answers to the upper 

 jaw in other animals, is very hard at the edges 

 above, and the extremity of it like that of a 

 turkey-cock. The end of the lower mandible 



is slightly notched, and the whole is of a gray, 

 ish brown, except a green spot on each side. 

 As the beak admits a very wide opening, this 

 contributes not a little to the bird's menacing 

 appearance. The neck is of a violet colour, 

 inclining to that of slate ; and it is red behind 

 in several places, but chiefly in the middle. 

 About the middle of the neck before, at the 

 rise of the large feathers, there are two pro- 

 cesses formed by the skin, which resemble 

 somewhat the gills of a cock, but that they 

 are blue as well as red. The skin which 

 covers the fore-part of the breast, on which 

 this bird leans and rests, is hard, callous, and 

 without feathers. The thighs and legs are 

 covered with feathers, and are extremely thick, 

 strong, straight, and covered with scales of 

 several shapes ; but the legs are thicker a 

 little above the foot than in any other place. 

 The toes are likewise covered with scales, and 

 are but three in number ; for that which should 

 be behind is wanting. The claws are of a 

 hard solid substance, black without, and white 

 within. 



The internal parts are equally remarkable. 

 The cassowary unites with the double stomach 

 of animals that live upon vegetables, the short 

 intestines of these that live upon flesh. The 

 intestines of the cassowary are thirteen times 

 shorter than those of the ostrich. The heart is 

 very small, being but an inch and a half long, 

 and an inch-broad at the base. Upon the whole, 

 it has the head of a warrior, the eye of a lion, 

 the defence of a porcupine, and the swiftness 

 of a courser. 



Thus formed for a life of hostility, for terri- 

 fying others, and for its own defence, it might 

 be expected that the cassowary was one oi the 

 most fierce and terrible animals of the creation. 

 But nothing is so opposite to its natural char- 

 acter, nothing so different from the life it is 

 contented to lead. It never attacks others ; 

 and instead of the bill, when attacked, it rather 

 makes use of its legs, and kicks like a horse, 

 or runs against its pursuer, beats him down, 

 and treads him to the ground. 



The mariner of going of this animal is not 

 less extraordinary than its appearance. In- 

 stead of going directly forward, it seems to 

 kick up behind with one leg, and then making 

 a bound onward with the other, it goes with 

 such prodigious velocity, that the swiftest 

 racer would be left far behind. 



The same degree of voraciousness which we 

 perceive in the ostrich, obtains as strongly here. 

 The cassowary swallows every thing that comes 

 within the capacity of its gullet. The Dutch 

 assert, that it can devour not only glass, iron, 

 and stones, but even live on burning coals, 

 without testifying the smallest fear, or feeling 

 the least injury. It is said, that the passage 

 of the food through its gullet is performed so 



