THE SCEtTB FOWL / 



in a pillar-box, unlimited bananas disappearing one by one into 

 the dark cavity without producing any apparent effect. Later 

 on he learned to feed on potatoes and bread. Hunger was in fact 

 a constant trait, and he was ever on the look-out for something 

 tasty. One lady had skinned a bird ; he approached, saw, seized 

 and promptly swallowed the skin. Another lady's bonnet 

 attracted him; with a dart he pecked it off, but this, dainty as 

 it was, proved too difficult an object for the pillar-box. This 

 Cassowary drew the line at missionaries ; he never attempted to 

 swallow one. Black Prince made great friends with a cockatoo. 

 In their game Cocky soon discovered the weakness of Achilles. 

 A timely nip in the heel was always sufficient to make his large 

 and otherwise invulnerable, friend leap high into the air as 

 a first step in his retreat. The Cassowary was not so friendly 

 with some tame kangaroos which shared the shrubbery with 

 him. He would kick them from him, with the force of a horse, 

 always kicking forwards. This power, alas, proved to be too 

 dangerous as the bird increased in size and strength, and, in 

 order to prevent accidents, it became necessary to remove him, 

 greatly to the sorrow of his master. The lordly form of Black 

 Prince still stands in the hall of the Townsville Grammar 

 School. 



Sub-class Neognathae. 

 Sternum with keel. 



Order Oallipormes. 



Game Birds. 



Bill short and stout, the culmen arched and overhanging 

 the mandible. After-shafts to the feathers of the body. Legs 

 strong, sometimes armed with a spur. Hind toe (hallux) more 

 or less developed. Nestlings precocious. 



Family Megapodiidce. 

 Hallux on the same level as the other toes. Oil-gland naked. 



Genus Megapodius. 

 Upper tail coverts do not extend to the end of the tail. 

 Head with a crest of feathers. 



