CASSOWARY. 199 



appetites require little selection to gratify them, and their 

 powers of digestion are inconceivable. 



The female lays from forty to fifty eggs at a time ; and, 

 though in the warm climates which she inhabits it is unne- 

 cessary to sit continually on them, she does not leave them 

 to be hatched by the sun's heat, as has been a general tra- 

 dition in every age. In fact, no birds can take a more af- 

 fectionate care of their young, or be more assiduous in 

 supplying them with whatever is suitable to their state. 

 Not only the plumage, but also the eggs and the flesh, are 

 held in high estimation : thus the ostrich has numerous 

 enemies to guard against ; and, were it not for its prodi- 

 gious fecundity, the breed would probably have been long 

 ago extinct. 



THE CASSOWARY. 



Next to the ostrich, this is one of the largest and hea- 

 viest of the feathered creation. It measures about five 

 feet and a half from the point of the bill to the extremity 

 of the claws. The wings are, in a great measure, con- 

 cealed under the feathers of the back, and are so small as 

 to be almost imperceptible. Hence it may be concluded 

 that the cassowary does not use them in flight ; and indeed 

 all its plumage is of one kind, and externally of the same 

 colour. Each feather is generally double, having two 

 long shafts proceeding from a short socket fixed in the 

 skin. These double feathers are always of unequal 

 length ; some being fourteen inches long, and others only 

 three. 



The most remarkable part, however, of the cassowary 

 is the head; which is armed with a kind of helmet, of a 

 horny substance, extremely hard, and capable of resisting 

 a violent blow. The eyes are of a bright yellow ; and, in 

 short, the whole conformation is strikingly majestic. It 

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

 of a porcupine, and the swiftness of a courser Yet, 

 though endowed with powers apparently formidable for its 

 own defence, it never attacks other birds ; and, when pur- 



