CASSOWARY 



ing of a mass of delicate laeework of bone encased in 

 a thin sheath of horn. 



The general appearance of the Cassowary is well 

 seen in the illustration. The curious spikes project- 

 ing from the sides of the body are all that remain of 

 wing- feathers, while the wing as a whole, is like that of 

 the Emu, extremely small and degenerate. The 

 "hand" is so reduced that it cannot be bent back at 

 the wrist, as in birds that have the power of flight, 

 and the thumb is quite lost, as in the Emu. The only 

 finger that is left is provided with a long claw. Casso- 

 waries are further remarkable for the fact that the 

 inner toe bears an enormous claw, which is used in 

 fighting — forming indeed a very formidable weapon. 

 The legs are short and thick. The sexes are coloured 

 alike, and the neck is adorned with brilliantly coloured 

 wattles, or excrescences. Altogether, fifteen species 

 of Cassowaries are known, one of which almost equals 

 the Emu in size, standing as much as six feet in 

 height. See Plate 28, Fig. 159. 



The Emu and the Cassowary differ from all other 

 birds in that the feathers are double — that is to say, 

 each has two shafts, of equal size. 



In Australia and Tasmania many remains of gigan- 

 tic fossil birds are found, related to the Cassowary, 

 one of which, the Moa, stood ten or twelve feet in 

 height, dwarfing in size the largest Ostrich. Remains 

 of these birds in a perfect state of preservation have 

 been found. A fossilised egg of the Moa, of enor- 

 mous size, has also been discovered. Another great 

 bird, ^pyornis, closely allied to the Cassowary, prob- 

 ably lived at the same time as the Moa, and, judging 



