12 THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 



FOOD. Chiefly vegetable, herbage, fruit, etc. 



GAIT. A walk or run, often very rapid. They swim 

 well and readily. 



NOTE. A boom or prolonged guttural sound. 



DISPOSITION AND GENERAL HABITS. These birds are 

 intelligent, and have considerable courage and 

 inquisitiveness. The foot is used in righting. 



ECONOMIC QUALITIES. There is not much to be said on 

 this head ; the skins are useful as rugs. 



CAPTIVITY. The birds of this family do well in 

 captivity ; they have bred, and Emus, at any rate, 

 have reared their young frequently. 



DISTRIBUTION AND IMPORTANT SPECIES. The family 

 falls into two sections the Cassowaries proper, 

 with a helmet on the bare head when adult, with 

 spine-like (secondary) quills in the wing, and with 

 the claw of the inner toe enlarged and spike-like. 

 They are black when adult, chestnut in first plu- 

 mage. They inhabit the Papuan Islands, except 

 one found in North Australia, and live in forests ; 

 there are about a dozen species, chiefly distinguished 

 by the colours of the brilliant bare skin of the 

 head and neck, which is generally produced into 

 wattles. The best known is the Common 

 Cassowary (Casuarius galeatus). 



Emus have the head feathered with no helmet, 

 and no spine-like secondary quills or enlargement of 

 the inner claw. They inhabit open plains. Only 

 one species, the speckled-grey Common Emu 

 (Dromaeus novce-hollandia) is living, and is well 

 known in Australia. The Dwarf Black Emu (D. 

 peroni), of Kangaroo Island, has, however, only 

 become extinct within the last hundred years. 



