HON. W. ROTHSCHILD ON THE GENUS CASUARIUS. 123 
“Bill much longer and straighter than in other Cassowaries. Casque horny brown, 
green at base. Face and a broad band running down the side of the bill bluish green. 
Base of lower mandible dark blue, with a yellow line running along one-third of the 
length of the mandible on each side, Wattles at base of fore-neck very large, round, 
and short, 3 X 24 inches, pale blue at base, otherwise pink all over, entirely separate 
for their whole length, but close together. Auricular orifice larger than in any other 
Cassowary. Throat and fore-neck bright ultramarine-blue. Occiput and upper hind- 
neck pale greenish or eau-de-Nil blue. Lower hind-neck brilliant orange-scarlet. 
Naked lower sides of neck magenta-purple, bordered anteriorly with ultramarine-blue, 
posteriorly with orange-scarlet; the magenta-purple space deeply carunculated and 
sharply cut off from the red and blue borders, which are plain and smooth.” 
The “ song ” of this bird is an extraordinary performance, generally as follows: — 
It lowers its head and neck and remains in this position—with head and neck 
stretched out straight in front—for about fifteen seconds, with the bill open and 
gradually inflating its neck, without making a sound; then, bowing and jerking its 
head so that the bill and wattle clap together, it emits some barking grunts, apparently 
with great effort, the skin of the neck being then so much inflated that the wrinkles 
become quite obscure. 
The type specimen laid an egg last year, which is, needless to say, bright green; 
but its shell is not properly developed, and a description of the surface and size is 
therefore better omitted. 
7. CASUARIUS CASUARIUS AUSTRALIS Wall. The Australian Cassowary. (Plate XXV.) 
1854. Casuarius australis Wall, Illustr. Sydney Herald of June 38rd ; 
1857. Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. pp. 269, 270 ; 
1858. G. R. Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. p. 196; 
1860. Scl., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. p. 210; Ibis, p. 310 ; 
1862. Scl., Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond. iv. p. 360; Schleg. Jaarb. zool. Genootsch. Nat. Art. Mag. 
p. 200; 
1865. Gould, Handb. B. Austr. ii. p. 206 ; 
1866. Schleg., Zool. Gart. p. 180; Scl. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. p. 557 ; 
1867. Scl., Proce. Zool. Soe. Lond, p. 242 (C. johnsoni=australis); Bennett, Proc. Zool. Soc. 
Lond. p. 473; 
1868. Scl., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. p. 376; Ibis, p. 348; 
1868. Ramsay, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. pp. 381, 388 ; 
1869. Gould, B. Austr., Suppl. pls. 70, 71; Krefft, Ibis, p. 348 ; 
1870. Editors, Ibis, pp. 119, 120 ; 
1871. G. R. Gray, Hand-list B. iii. p. 2, no. 9851; Flower, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. p. 32 
(skeleton) ; Scl., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. p. 547 (in confinement) ; 
1873. Schleg., Mus. Pays-Bas, Struthiones, p. 9; 
1874. Ramsay, Proc. Zool. Soe. Lond. p. 325 ; 
1875. Scl., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. p. 85 ; 
