OASUAEIUS JOHNSONII (KrefftJ. 



(JohnsoTi's Cassowary.) 



Ma.le. — The general plumage is black (at a distance resembling coarse hair), with the exception of the tail, which'is a good deal intermixed 

 with brownish feathers — all the feathers brown at the root ; legs, stout ; the inner toe very short, with a strong straight nail, which is broad 

 at the base, and ends in a sharp point ; wings, rudimentary, and supplied Avith five or six webless shafts of various lengths ; head, surmounted 

 by a horny helmet of a dirty brown color, the height of which is equal to, or greater than, the length of its base ; neck, covered with a thin 

 smooth skin, at the lower part of which, on each side, are a few glandular folds ; the neck wattles in front are two in number and four or five 

 inches in length ; the head and neck are almost entirely bare of feathers ; the skin from the bill along the top of the head and extending 

 about five inches behind the neck is of a marine blue tint, below this, and adjoining the plumage, is a patch of cinnibar red ; the remainder of 

 the neck is bright ultramarine, except the lower triangular portion adjoining the plumage, where it becomes a deep indigo tint ; the neck 

 wattles are bright red; bill, 'black ; irides, rich light brown. 



Height, 4 feet 6 inches ; length, 4 feet 3 inches ; bill, 4 inches ; tarsus, 12 ; mid-toe, 7 ; outer and inner toes, 5 ; inner 

 claw, 3 ; helmet, 5i to 6^. 



The discovery of so large and important a bird as a Cassowary in Australia is an event of much interest. One result of the 

 opening up of the northern portions of Queensland for the purposes of settlement is an increased knowledge of many beautiful birds, and an 

 addition to our fauna of several forms which were supposed to be exclusively confined to New Guinea and the neighboring islands. A report 

 for some years existed relative to a cassowary shot by Kennedy's party during their disastrous expedition skirting the Cape York 

 peninsula : now, even supposing the same to refer to the present bird (of which we are by no means certain) the description attempted does 

 not apply in any one respect. 



The Casuarius Graleatus of 'Ceram, &c., is nearly allied to Casuarius Johusonii, but the following particulars will sufficiently 

 show its distinctness : — 



C. GrALEATITS. 



HeigJit of helmet less than the length of the base. 



Skin of neck, thick and furnished ivith regular tuhercular ridges behind; 



glands on the sides next the plumage much developed. 

 Inner claw curved and not sharp. 



C. JOHKSONII. 



Height of helmet, greater than the length of the base. 



Skin of neck, thin and smooth — no ridges behind; glands on the sides 



of the neck, scarcely developed. 

 Inner claw staight and very sharp. 



The above description and characters are furnished by Gerard Krefft, Esq., of the Australian Museum, Sydney, who has kindly 

 furnished me with photographs of both birds, and thus aftorded material for careful comparison and the means of supplying a correct figure. 

 The coloration is derived from the original notes of Mr. Johnson, taken at the time the bird was shot by him, in September, 1866, at 

 G-owrie Creek Scrub, Eockingham Bay, and which, together with a sketch by that gentleman, were also forwarded to me by Mr. KrefFt. I 

 have much pleasure in adding that G. H. Davidson, Esq., of Eockingham Bay, has also succeeded in shooting a fine specimen of this bird, but, 

 unfortunately, did not succeed in preserving it. On his last visit to Brisbane he brought with him certain portions of it, which I was 

 permitted to inspect. They correspond almost completely, as also do his notes taken at the time, with the able description of Mr. Johnson, 

 the measurements diftering very slightly ; for instance, the helmet in Mr. Johnson's specimen is 5i inches in front — the one I saw in Mr. 

 Davidson's possession measured 6^ inches in front. The neck wattles in Mr. Johnson's were 4 inches, and in Mr. Davidson's 5 inches in 

 length, and only the tips of the wattles were orange red and rounded like balls, from which particulars we might be led to infer that the 

 latter specimen, which weighed more than 200Ibs., was more aged. The naked quills of the wing which that gentleman showed me were of 

 various lengths, some being broken and all blunt. "What the use of these curious appendages is it is difficult to conceive ; that no important 

 character can be founded on the number or size of them may be evident from the fact that in the specimen of C. Johusonii, in the Sydney 

 Museum the rio-ht wino- has six, and the left five ; and those supposed to be pairs are not of the same length but difter considerably, the 

 disposal of them being somewhat fanlike, the shortest on each side and the longest in the middle, varying from i an inch to 12 inches in 

 length ; the average length of the third, fourth, and fifth, being 11 inches. The skin contains a large quantity of oil, and is difficult of 

 preservation. Little is at present known as to the habits and economy of this bird, which is exceedingly shy and waiy. It had been known 

 for some time to exist in the neighborhood, but until Mr. Johnson's visit " had managed to escape every attempt to catch or kill." He says, 

 " The bird seems to confine itself almost entirely to the more open parts of the scrub, and seldom ventures far out into the plains. During 

 " the months of July, August, and September, its food consists of an egg shaped blue skinned berry, the fruit of a large tree; this, together 

 " with herbage, probably forms its diet, at least for that portion of the year." The contents of the stomach of Mr. Davidson's specimen 

 consisted of '' a fruit resembling a lemon," which had a " stone inside." 



