FAM. CASUARIIDA 
BY L. BRASIL 
HE Casuariid@, or Cassowaries, show with Emeus many important points of 
resemblance, but they can be immediately distinguished by the more hair-like 
appearance of the feathers, the spine-shape of the degenerate remiges, the presence 

upon the head of a horny helmet, and the great development of the inner claw, so 
that, if Cassowaries and Emeus are united in the same Order Casuarii or Casuartiformes, they 
form there two very distinct Families, the Caswariid@ and the Dromaiide. 
The different forms of Cassowaries have been studied chiefly by Sclater, Salvadori, 
Oustalet, and, above all, by Walter Rothschild whose -splendid monograph is the finest 
and the most useful work made on these birds. 
Characters. The Casuariid@ ave robust and large flightless Palcognathe, smaller 
however than Ostriches and Emeus : a full-developed individual of the tallest species stands 
about 150 centim. high and the dwarf form Caswarius casuarius chimera 1s yet as large as a 
turkey. The fore-limb is rudimentary, and, with the exception of four or five very modified 
remiges, quite undistinguishable exteriorly. 
The head, moderate in size, is bare and bears a more or less high horny helmet, which 
is of various shapes, being laterally compressed and freely developed behind, or posteriorly 
depressed and then almost pyramidal, or reduced and very low. The neck is rather long, strong, 
and also bare on its greater part; the naked space extends more in front and behind, and, in 
many species, laterally very far. The head and neck naked skin is brightly and diversely 
coloured, mainly with blue, and much adorned with caruncles and folds in various places ; in 
most cases the fore-neck bears one or two more or less large wattles. The naked skin shows 
also scattered hairs, which are chiefly numerous and strong upon the rim of the ear-opening. 
Eye-lashes are present and well-developed. The bill is moderate in length, generally shorter 
than the head, strong, laterally compressed, with the culmen curved near the tip and overlaping 
that of the under mandible. The nostrils are placed in a broad membranous groove; their 
opening is oval and relatively anterior in situation. A well-marked sternal callosity is present. 
