448 



THE CASSOWARY. 



This fine bird is Dotable for the glossy bhick hair-like plumage, the 

 helraet-like protuberance upon the head, and the light azure, purple, 

 and scarlet of the upper part of the neck. The " helmet " is a truly- 

 remarkable apparatus, being composed of a honeycombed cellular bony 

 substance, made on a principle that much resembles the structure 

 of the elephant's skull, mentioned in an earlier portion of this 

 work. 



The plumage of the body is very hair-like, being composed of long 

 and almost naked sliafts, two springing from the same tube, and one 



The Cassowary [Casuarius 



always being longer .than the other. At the roots of the shafts there 

 is a small tuft of delicate down, sufficiently thick to supply a warm 

 and soft inner garment, but yet so small as to be hidden by the long 

 hair-hke plumage. Even the tail is furnished with the same curious 

 covering, and the wings are clothed after a similar manner, with the 

 exception of five black, stiflT, strong, pointed quills, very like the large 

 quills of the porcupine, and being of different lengths, the largest not 

 exceeding one foot, and generally being much battered about the 

 point. When stripped of its feathers, the whole wing extends only 

 some three mches in length, and is evidently a mere indication of the 

 limi). 



