168 
NATURAL HISTORY 
they are supposed to subsist principally upon vegetables 
In Lybia they are used for travelling; and when mounted 
by men, will go swifter than a r^ce-horse. 
The Emu is only second to the ostrich in magnitude, 
and is by much the largest bird in the new continent. It 
is generally about six feet high, measuring from its head 
to the ground. The head is small, the neck long, the 
form of the body round, and the wings short, and en- 
tirely unfit for flying. Its thighs are remarkably thick; 
its legs are three feet long, and it differs from the ostrich 
in having an additional toe on each foot. It has no tail, 
but is covered from the back with long feathers which 
fall backward and cover the rump. It moves very swiftly; 
but in its course it uses a very odd kind of action, lifting 
up one wing, which it keeps elevated for a time, till 
letting it drop, it raises the other. The fleetest hounds 
are frequently thrown out in pursuing it: and we are 
told of one, which on being surrounded by the hunters, 
darted among the dogs with such irresistible fury, that 
they immediately gave way, and thus enabled it to escape 
in safety. 
Cassowary. (PI. 23.) This bird, though not so 
large as the former, appears more bulky to the eye; its 
body being nearly equal, and its neck and legs much 
thicker in proportion. It is about five feet and a half 
long, from the point of the bill to the extremity of the 
claws; the head and neck together are eighteen inches; 
the legs are two feet and a half; and the largest toe, in- 
cluding the claw, is five inches long. The wing is 
armed with five prickles of different lengths, but is so 
small that it does not appear, being concealed under the 
plumage of the back. The feathers are generally dou- 
ble, having two long shafts issuing from a short one 
which is fixed in the skin. The beards at the end of the 
large feathers are perfectly black, under which there is 
a kind of down, of a tawny colour. 
The most singular part of this animal, however, is the 
head, which, though small, like that of the ostrich, is 
calculated to inspire some degree of terror. It is bare 
of feathers and armed w T ith a -sort of horny helmet, black 
