292 



VERTEBEATE ANIMALS. 



Australia. In size it nearly equals the African Ostrich, standing 

 from live to seven feet in height, and it is not uncommonly kept as 

 a domestic ]iet. The Cassowaries are fovmd in the Malayan Archi- 

 pelago, North Australia, and New Guinea. The best known is the 

 Galeated Cassowary which was first brought alive to Europe by the 

 Dutch. It stands aliout five feet in height, and possesses a singular 

 horny crest up<in the head. The last group of the living Cursorial 

 Birds is the curious genus Aptcri/.r of New Zealand. In the species 

 of this remarkable genus (fig. 207) the beak is extremely long and 

 slender, and the nostrils are placed at the e.xtremity of the upper 



Fig. 207.— The Apteryx anatralis nf New Zealand, showing the h.iir-like feathers, 

 and the rudimentary great tne on the back of the font. 



manilible. The legs are comparatively short, and there is a rudi- 

 mentary hind-toe, jirovided with a claw. The feathers of the gen- 

 er.al plumage are long and hair-like, and the wings are altogether 

 riulimentary. 



It is worth noting that in New Ze;dand are found the remains of 

 a number of gigantic ('ursmial Birds which are now extinct, but 

 which seem to have been in existence when the island was first in- 

 habited by man. TIk'V are known to the Maories as " Moas," and 

 the priiicipal genus is /)iiii>nii«. 



lu vei y many respects the various Birds which are here included 



