74 The Emeus and Cassowaries 



THE CASSOWARIES 



(Family Casuariidce) 



i 



The Cassowaries are more numerous in forms than the Ostriches, Rheas, and 

 Emeus combined, as Rothschild, in his magnificent monograph of the genus, 

 recognizes eight or nine species and ten or more subspecies, and states that, 

 owing to the uncertainty of localities whence have come many of the living speci- 

 mens brought to Europe, and the disappearance after death of the most character- 

 istic coloration of the bare skin of the head and neck, our knowledge of the species 

 is doubtless still limited. They are confined in their distribution to the Papuan 

 subregion, i.e. New Guinea with the islands in Geelvink Bay, Salawatti, New 

 Britain, probably the Solomon Islands, the Aru group, northern Queensland, and 

 the island of Ceram in the Moluccas. They are curious, large birds, some of them 

 standing five feet or more in height, and perhaps their most marked external 

 character is the peculiar bony helmet or casque on the forehead, this, and the 

 naked head and neck, being brightly colored ; the skin of the neck is also much 

 carunculated and wattled in various places. The bill is generally shorter than 

 the head, laterally compressed and with the culmen curved downward near the 

 tip, while the wings are quite rudimentary, the only external evidence being some 

 five or six long, black, barbless quills; there are no tail-feathers. The legs and 

 feet are very strong, for they too are very fleet of foot. As already indicated, 

 the two outer toes are provided with obtuse curved claws, while the inner is armed 

 with a long, straight, powerful, pointed claw, "which is a dangerous weapon." 

 As in Emeus the body is covered with stiff, hair-like feathers in which the after- 

 shaft is as long as the principal shaft. " The old birds are black, the young ones 

 brown, and the nestling, when hatched, is striped longitudinally above." 



The following account of their habits is from Rothschild: "All Cassowaries 

 are inhabitants of forests, while the rest of the large living Pafoognatha are deni- 

 zens of steppes and deserts. Their food seems to consist of all sorts of vegetable 

 matter and fruits ; but they also pick up insects and any creeping thing that comes 

 in their way. In captivity, at least, they kill and devour chicks and small birds 

 when they come across them. They also, like Ostriches, Rheas, and others, 

 swallow quantities of stones and gravel to assist digestion. They are entirely 

 diurnal, sleeping from sunset till morning. 



"The voice of the Cassowaries is a curious sort of snorting, grunting, and 

 bellowing, usually not very loud, and differing according to the species. 



"Their temper is generally sullen and treacherous, and they are extremely 

 pugnacious, even the different sexes often fighting at other seasons than the 

 breeding season." 



The nest is placed on the ground, often in a pile of leaves, and, unlike many 

 of their relatives, only one female lays in a nest. The eggs vary from five to 

 eight in number, and have a strong, coarsely granulated surface. "When fresh 

 they are evidently all of a light green color, but when exposed to the light they 

 become first more bluish, then grayish, and finally almost cream-colored." 



