.18 N ATI' tt A LIST'S CABINET. 



: 1 



Description Habits. 



but the legs arc thicker a little above the toot 

 than In any other place. The toes are likewise 

 covered with scales, and are but three in num- 

 ber, all of which are in the front ; they are seve- 

 rally armed with claws of a hard and solid sub- 

 Stance, black without and white within. 



It has been remarked by a celebrated author, 

 that the cassowary has the head of a warrior, the 

 eye of a lion, the defence of a porcupine, and 

 the swiftness of a courser; and yet though thus 

 formed for a life of hostility, and for its own de- 

 fence, and from which it might be suspected of 

 being one of the most fierce and terrible animals 

 of the creation, nothing is so opposite to its na- 

 tural character; it seems to be solicitous after 

 peace, and never gives disturbance to any ; even 

 when attacked, instead of employing its bill, 

 though so well calculated for defence, it rather 

 makes use of its legs and feet ; kicking like a 

 a horse, or running against its pursuer, beating 

 him down to the ground, and then endeavouring 

 to escape. The method of its running has a 

 strange appearance, for it does not go directly 

 forward, but kicks up behind with one leg, and 

 then making a bound onward with the other, 

 proceeds with such prodigious velocity, that the 

 swiftest racer would prove unequal to the pursuit. 



The cassowary is equally as voracious as the 

 ostrich, and swallows every thing that comes 

 within the capacity of its gullet. The Dutch 

 travellers assert that it can devour not only glass. 



