THE CASSOWARY. 



233 



peculiar, being modulated according to the urgency of their wants and desires. Sometimes these notes 

 are varied, as if speaking ; at one time they are mild, at another very vehement ; then rising to a 

 higher and more rapid chirp, as if scolding ; afterwards becoming plaintive, as if beseeching for some- 

 thing ; again loud and rapid, as if impatient at delay. At a little distance this modulation of the 

 chirping notes seems as if the birds were holding a conversation, and has a very singular effect." 



Both the male and female Cassowary sit on the eggs, which are of a beautiful green colour, the 

 texture being rough and covered with small round tubercles. The perio.1 of incubation in the Mooruk, 



CASSOWARY. 



according to observations at the Zoological Gardens, is about fifty-two days. For the Ceram species 

 (C. galeatus), Mr. Wallace gives the period as " about a month." In addition to the shape of the helmet 

 or casque, the Cassowaries are classified according to the number of the pendent wattles on the neck, 

 which are two in number in four of the species, one only in the fifth, Casuarius uniappendiculatus, of 

 Salawati, and in the remaining four they are absent altogether. These wattles and the adjoining skin 

 of the neck are generally of a bright colour blue and green and red. 



The Emus (Dromceus) are the only remaining examples of the Casuarince, but they may be 

 distinguished by their feathered head and neck, the absence of a casque or helmet, and by the 

 stout curved nails to the toss. Only two species are known, the Common Emu (D. novae 

 hottandias), and the Spotted Emu (D. irroratus), the former being widely distributed in the Aus- 

 tralian Continent, while the latter is found only in Western Australia. There are several points 



