174 Frederick D. Welch—Remarks on some Cassowaries


low down where the skin colour can be seen showing between the

feathering as a bright red patch.


Other parts of plumage were different in the birds by this date,

when one had grown larger, being about 32 inches at level of back,

whereas the other was about 29, there having appeared a marked

blackish hue on the shoulders and back of the smaller bird—and,

to a lesser extent, blackish also on those of the larger. The rest of

the feathers on body and round legs were very similar in both birds,

being brown. This different extent of blackish hue, and also the

different size, suggested to me they were different sex—the smaller

being a male.


It is, I believe, the case in some other species of Cassowary, that

the males are smaller than females (in this being analogous to some

birds of prey). The height of the smaller bird from the ground-level

to the crown of its head would be about 43 inches, the casque itself

being about Jin. high—this being estimated from the living bird.


Owing to temporary ill-health, I could not continue the observations

during the winter of 1921-2, and it was not until 15th June, 1922,

that I found it possible to proceed with the observations.


During the year both birds had grown, the height of the smaller

at the level of the back being about 33 or 34 inches, that of the larger

about 36 ; while the height at the casque, when standing, was about

49 inches in the smaller, 54 in the larger bird. Both still had brown

feathering round legs and on body near tail end. The casque in both

birds was about 1 inch high, rounded from side to side and behind,

and dark grey in colour.


The iris was brown, and head and neck were now bare of feathers.

Above the level of the eye and ear holes the skin was bluish and tinged

with white ; below this it was dark violet blue (from which part the

species presumably takes its name of Violet-necked) except the back

of the neck, where the colour was red and the skin wrinkled.


The wattles were more reddish than a year ago ; and the division

between them where they met each other in the medium line of the

throat was longer in the smaller bird, being about inches, than in

the other bird, in which it was about 1 inch.


I cannot say with certainty whether this different length of slit



