Vol. XII. 



1 White, Notes on the Cassowary. ^75 



the lay of the country I often heard and saw Cassowaries, but always 

 the birds were sohtary, and during my whole trip so far (August), 



I have seen a pair together only six times. I know now that the male 

 bird never visits the nesting country, but keeps within warning call 

 of it. When anyone approaches he utters his deep-sounding " Boom 

 boom " ; or else, if taken by surprise, a short " HeCigh heugh heugh." 

 He may also stamp his feet on the ground as he goes away. The 

 feeding hours were easy to find out. Cassowaries are early risers, 

 and at daybreak are to be seen, in this month, feeding on the red 

 palm berries or else the large red plum. The female returns to the 

 nest before 8 o'clock if she is laying ; but the male bird travels about 

 his feeding-ground till about 1 1 a.m., when he selects a sunny — -or, 

 if raining, a sheltered — spot, and rests until about 2 p.m., when he 

 resumes his feeding. At about 5 p.m. he returns to higher ground^ 

 and walks about for a while before going to his favourite camp for 

 the night. These camps are usually under a mass of lawyer- vines, 

 and, in many instances, those I found were rain-proof to a great 

 extent. The female, when laying, does not leave the nest until 



II a.m. or later. She feeds until i p.m. If the weather is fine she 

 is away from 5 p.m. till 5.30 p.m., when she returns to her nest for 

 the night. 



Food this month consisted of the bright red berries of a palm 

 (Archontophoenix alexandrcB, Wendl.), a long-stoned plum (Crypto- 

 carya, sp.), a yellow fruit (Polyalthia, sp.), scrub-apple (? Pygeum 

 turnerianum, Bailey), seed of the zamia palm {Macvozamia denisonii, 

 F. V. M.), &c. 



July. — It has been raining continually here since the middle of 

 June, and the Cassowaries have just started laying. I consider that 

 July and August are the two principal months for egg-laying, and 

 that June is the beginning and September the end of the laying 

 season. I have been cutting my way through a portion of the scrub 

 where I saw birds, but so far without result. As I do not like to stir 

 them up continually in the one place, I keep changing my country. 

 The scrub here is like a wall, and the natives never go through it, 

 but follow the beds of the creeks. The male Cassowary is in brilUant 

 colours now. On seeing or hearing anyone near he makes a deep 

 " Boom boom," and strikes the ground a few times hard with his 

 feet. One thing I notice is that, in spite of the bird being clumsy 

 and heavy, he is hard to track, and can go through the thickest lawyer 

 patch with head held about a foot off the ground, like a fast-trotting 

 horse. We searched the country marked on the rough map so 

 persistently that the birds left it. Since the end of June (now i8th 

 July) we have noticed that the birds do not make the " B65m boorn " 

 so much. Often they camp for the night in a thick clump of scrub 

 pandanus, and, as the least movement can be heard, I have no doubt 

 it is for purposes of protection. 



We saw a male bird showing off before his mate yesterday (17 th 

 July), and it was the most amusing performance I ever saw in the 

 bush. The male pretended to be very frightened, and darted away 

 for 50 yards, tearing aside everything in front of him. Then he 

 turned and came back vdth a rush as if he were chasing something, 

 which he pretended to kill by a terrific jump and a few thuds of his 

 feet. Then he made a noise which I cannot describe, and walked 

 away up my track. I noticed during the first part of this month that 

 the majority of the birds had become quiet. One which I passed 



