CASSOWARIES 281 



chestnut band on the back, another of white on the wing, and grey tips to the 

 tail-feathers. These pigeons associate in flocks, and range from the plains to an 

 elevation of about one thousand feet. 



As mentioned in the preceding chapter, cassowaries are mainly 



Ciisso wxriss 



characteristic of the Papuan region, Australia possessing but one 

 species, Casuarius australis, and that confined to the north-eastern districts, 

 where, as already mentioned, the fauna is of a Papuan type. The large bodily 

 size, horny helmet, gorgeously coloured head and neck, and hair-like black 

 plumage render these giant flightless birds distinguishable at a glance from all 

 their kindred. The brilliant blue, green, orange, and crimson of the naked parts 

 of the head and neck, which contrasts so strongly with the sable plumage of the 

 chest and neck, makes them peculiarly striking birds. The eight species arrange 

 themselves in three easily recognisable groups. Of the first group the most 

 familiar representative is the common cassowary of Ceram, Castcarius galeatus. 

 In this group the helmet is very tall and compressed, ending in an elevation 

 posteriorly, while there are two naked wattles on the throat. On the other hand, 

 in the second group, as typified by the single-wattled G. unia^endiculatus, the 

 helmet which may be laterally compressed, has its hind end abruptly truncated, 

 and at the same time there is but a single throat- wattle. In the third group, long 

 known only by the moruk (0. bennetti) of New Britain, there is the same posterior 

 truncation of the helmet, which is relatively small and low, but the throat-wattles 

 are absent. The species and subspecies of the three groups are distinguished from 

 one another by the size of the helmet, the coloration of the naked parts of the 

 head and neck, and the form and dimensions of the wattles, when these strange 

 appendages are present. 



" Cassowary-land " embraces New Guinea and some of the adjacent islets, 

 Salwatti, New Britain, the Aru Islands, northern Queensland, and Ceram in the 

 Moluccas. And it is not a little remarkable that the common species, inclusive of 

 its local varieties, extends from one end of this large distributional area to the 

 other, being found alike in Ceram and Queensland. 



As regards their mode of life, cassowaries are inhabitants of forests, while 

 ostriches, rheas, and emeus are denizens of steppes and deserts. Their food 

 consists of all kinds of vegetable matter, including fruits ; but they also pick up 

 insects and such creeping creatures as come in their way. In captivity they 

 will kill and devour chicks and small birds. Like ostriches, rheas, and emeus, 

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

 entirely diurnal, sleeping from sunset till morning. The voice of cassowaries is 

 a 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, the two sexes often fighting with one another, 

 except in the breeding-season. As in their kindred, incubation is performed by 

 the cocks alone. The eggs, which are light green in colour when first laid, soon 

 fade to a dirty white. Six to eight have been laid in a clutch in England. The 

 theory that some eggs are laid in the neighbourhood of the nest for the nutriment 

 of the young is regarded by an eminent English naturalist (as in the case of the 

 ostrich) as a mere traveller's tale. The eggs are reported to be excellent food. 



