208 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



bands of black. Atlalo states that "in the year 1888. upwards 

 of ten thousand Emeus were destroyed in one district of Australia 

 alone, while in the same period fifteen hundred of their eggs were 

 broken on one estate. Farmers allege that these birds steal their 

 grass and tear their fences. 



"In fact. Nature's balance seems to have got all topsy-turvy, 

 for we find the New South Wales Government spending in 1891 

 the extra>»rdinar\- sum of £50,000 in boiuises for the destruction 

 of 871 Emeus, over one million of marsupials, 65.000 hares and 

 rabbits, 11,530 dingoes, 3,502 eagle hawks, and some other ma- 

 rauders. So in a short time the Australians will have to travel 

 to foreign Zoological Parks to see what sort of a bird is this 

 Emeu, about w hicli their fathers talked so much." 



THK CASSOWARY. 



Cassowaries are interesting because of their adai)tali(>n to life 

 ill thick forest and dense undergrowth, rather than in the open. 

 They are confined to New Guinea, the northern extremity of 

 Australia and the small adjacent islands. The Cassowaries are 

 smaller in size than the emeus, and, although structurally rather 

 nearly related to these birds, yet in outward appearance Casso- 

 waries have a mimber of characteristics peculiar to themselves. 



Unlike the other birds of this Subclass, the bare skin of a 

 Cassowary's head and neck is colored with brilliant pignuents, 

 and sometimes develo])e(l inti> one t»r more pendant wattles. The 

 body feathers of old birds are black ; half-grown birds are brown, 

 and the yomig are striped. 



The wings are small and weak, being mere ilaps of skin, but 

 they are furnished with five or six long, black quills, all that 

 remain of the ilight feathers wliicli ])oi\- their ancestors through 

 the air. 



Cassowaries make their nests among the moss and lea\es, where 

 their eggs, whicli measure about three b\- six inches, -aw well pro- 

 tected by llie green colour of tlieir shells. The\- iwd on vari- 

 ous kinds of vegetable matter, and swallow large ([uanlilies of 

 pebbles to assist in grinding up their food. These ])ebl)les mav 

 be as large as hen's eggs. Little is known of the wild life of the 

 Cassowaries, as their haunts are guarded b\ tierce lril)es of ean- 

 nibals. The few small islands on which they live are almost un- 

 explored. About fourteen species are known, dilfering from 

 each other in minor details of wattles, and in the coloring of tjie 

 head and neck. 



