CASSOWARY. Casuariits 



nearly half a gallon of water per diem. The eggs are somewhat like those of the rhea, 

 save that their surface is more tubercular, and the shades of green more varied. The 

 colour of the plumage is black, glossy above, as if made of shining black horsehair, 

 and rather duller below. At the lower part of the neck there are two wattles, and the 

 upper part of the neck is coloured with beautiful blue, purple, and scarlet. The legs are 

 feathered. An adult male is about five feet in height. 



THE other species of Cassowary was discovered by Captain Devlin, and, having been 

 taken to Sydney in 1857, was there purchased and sent to England by Dr. Bennett, after 

 whom it has been very appropriately named. Its native title is MOOKUK, and its home is 

 in the. island of New Britain. 



Dr. Bennett's description of the Mooruk is as follows : " The height of the bird is three 

 feet to the top of the back, and five feet when standing erect. Its colour is rufous, mixed 

 with black on the back and hinder portions of the body, and raven-black about the neck 

 and breast ; the loose wavy skin of the neck is beautifully coloured with iridescent tints of 

 bluish purple, pink, and an occasional shade of green, quite different from the red and 

 purple caruncles of the Cassowary ; the feet and legs, which are very large and strong, are 

 of a pale ash colour, and exhibit a remarkable peculiarity in the extreme length of the 

 claw of the inner toe of each foot, it being nearly three times the length which it attains 

 in the claws of the other toes. This bird also differs from the cassowary in having a 

 horny plate instead of a helmet-like protuberance on the top of the head, which callous 

 plate resembles mother-of-pearl darkened with black lead." 



