56 THE CASSOWARY . 



part of the feathers serve for flight, and are dif- 

 ferent from those that serve merely for covering ; 

 but in the cassowary, all the feathers are of the 

 same kind, and outwardly of the same colour. 

 They are generally double ; having two long 

 shafts, which grow out of a short one, which is 

 fixed in the skin. Those that are double are 

 always of an unequal length ; for some are four- 

 teen inches long, particularly on the rump, while 

 others are not above three. The beards that 

 adorn the stem or shaft are, from about half way 

 to the end, very long, and as thick as a horse- 

 hair, without being subdivided into fibres. The 

 stem or shaft is flat, shining, black, and knotted 

 below, and from each knot there proceeds a 

 beard j likewise the beards at the end of the large 

 feathers are perfectly black, and towards the 

 root of a grey 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, composed of 

 down, is quite covered. There are feathers 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 extremely thick, but do not 

 differ in other respects 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, 



