1867.] MR. G. KREFFT ON A NEW CASSOWARY. 483 



are attached like bells six or eight round fleshy balls of bright blue 

 and scarlet." 



Mr. Carron, who gave some notes to AVall about this bird, has 

 assured me that this specimen had uo red helmet, that its plumage 

 was not brown, but black, and that it was not true that twelve 

 hungry men made a meal of a single leg, and had enough and some 

 to spare. So much, therefore, for this very vague account quoted 

 by Mr. Gould. 



The Cassowary which I am now about to describe was presented 

 to the Australian Museum by Mr. G. Randall Johnson, who informs 

 me that it was shot by him when on a visit to Messrs. Scott and Co.'s, 

 Herbert Station, in the Gawnie Creek Scrub, near Rockingham Bay, 

 Mr. Johnson has furnished me with a description of the appearance 

 of the fleshy part of the neck in the living bird, and is anxious to see 

 some former statements made by him through Dr. Ferd. Mueller 

 corrected ; and as the newspaper account given by Dr. Mueller will 

 probably be quoted by other writers, I call the attention of the Fel- 

 lows of this Society to the fact that it contains man}^ inaccuracies. 



When announcing the discovery of a Cassowary, Dr. Mueller sug- 

 gested that, if new, it should be named in honour of the discoverer ; 

 and acting upon this I beg to propose the name of Casuarius john- 

 soni for it. 



General plumage black, the feathers being brown at the base, and 

 black from about the middle to the tip ; head surrounded by a com- 

 pressed helmet, the height of which is about equal to its base ; skin 

 of neck smooth, without any folds or hair -covered ridges like those 

 shown on the back of the neck of Casuarius yaleatus ; thin soft 

 hair-like feathers cover the neck ; on each side the lower part of the 

 neck is furnished with a few thick glandular fleshy ridges, which in 

 the living bird are deep blue ; helmet horny colour (dirty light 

 brown in Mr. Johnson's notes) ; irides rich light brown ; the skin 

 from the bill along the top of the head and extending 5 inches down 

 the back of the neck marine blue ; below this, still following the 

 back of the neck down to the point at which the feathers become 

 thick, the coloration is of a cinnabar-red ; the underside of the head 

 and throat from the bill downwards ultramarine blue ; glandular 

 portion of neck dark blue. Wattles, two in number, bright red, and 

 4 inches long. The rudimentary wings are provided on the right 

 side with five long smooth shafts ; a sixth, nail-like and not more 

 than I inch in length, finishes the series. The left wing has four 

 long and straight shafts and a fifth curved one of about 2 inches in 

 length. Toes moderate, rather blunt, except the inner one, which, 

 springing from a broad base, is scarcely curved, and tapers towards 

 a sharp point. 



This Cassowary, I am told, confines itself almost entirely to the 

 more open parts of the scrub, and seldom ventures out on the plains. 

 During July, August, and September its food consists chiefly of an 

 egg-shaped blue-skinned berr}', the fruit of a large tree ; this, toge- 

 ther with herbage, probably forms its diet for at least that portion 

 of the year. 



