CASUARIUS PICTICOLLIS, Sclater. 
Painted-throated Cassowary. 
Casnar'ms picticoUis, Sclat. P. Z. S. 1875, p. 85, pi. xviii.. 
et List Vert. Anltn. Z. S. L. ed. vi. p. 42.'!. 
Unless the heads of freshly killed birds are preserved in spirits or living specimens can be resorted to, 
it is almost impossible for the ornithologist to determine the various species of Cassowary, particularly of 
that section known hy the trivial name of Mooruk. In their youth all are of a uniform brown in their plu- 
mage, while the partly denuded neck is varied with different tints of yellow and green, which in afterlife give 
place to blue, verditer green, orange, and chestnut red, whilst the brown feathers of the body are succeeded 
by black ones, which ever after remain permanent. The period of this succession of changes from youth to 
maturity is several years. It was on the 2Ztb of May 1874 that an immature specimen of this very distinct 
Cassowary was received at the Gardens of the Zoological Society, in which it lived until the 16th of October 
1876. Within three hours of the death of this fine bird, through the kindness of the Secretary, I received its 
body at my house, and was able, through the assistance of Mr. Hart, to take the accompanying illustration, 
which could not have been prepared in tbe way it is had not immediate attention been given to it. Mr. 
Sclater has also had drawings taken in an intermediate state, one of which was published, along with descrip- 
tions, in the ‘Proceedings’ as above quoted. “On the 27 th of May last year,” says Mr. Sclater, “we 
purchased of Mr. Broughton of the ‘Paramatta,’ who seldom returns from Sydney without bringing some 
welcome addition to our collection, a not quite adult Cassowary, which, as I am informed, had been brought 
to Sydney in the month of April, 1873, by Mr. Godfrey Goodman, Medical Officer of H.M.S. ‘Basilisk,’ 
and had lived some eight or nine months in the Botanic Gardens there. This Cassowary was entered in 
the register as a Mooruk ; and not being at the time aware of its history, I did not pay special attention to 
it. Later in the summer, having become aware of its origin, I made a careful examination of the specimen 
in company with the Superintendent, and at once decided that it was not a Mooruk {Casuarius hennetti), 
although closely allied to that species in form and structure. It, in fact, more nearly resembles M' estermau’s 
Cassowary (C. iveste7'mmint), but is very differently coloured in the naked parts of the throat.” 
It may be said that the Cassowaries all differ in the form of the helmet, while those which have wattles 
differ in the length and situation of these appendages, and that not only the primitive but the complementary 
colours are found in the various species. But though these characters alter during adolescence, they 
remain permanent when the birds have attained the age of maturity; and I may state that both sexes 
are similarly adorned — if there be any difference, the females, according to my exj)erience, being the 
largest in size and richest in colour. Such, then, is all the information I am at present able to render 
respecting the history of this interesting addition to the family of the Cassowaries. 
C. picticolUs may at once be distinguished by attending to the colouring of the neck — the naked skin of the 
hinder portion being blue, whilst in C. loestei'manni it is orange. 
This bird, as regards size, is a trifle smaller than C. tvesterma7mi ; the legs are light brown or a sickly 
bluish green, and very slender when compared with the other allied species. Length of tarsi 11 inches, 
middle toe 6i, inner nail very long. Whole plumage of the adult jet-black ; feathers of the shoulders and 
upper part of the back very stiff', round and shiny. 
The sex: of the individual from which my drawings were taken was marked male in Prof. Garrod’s (our 
prosector’s) journal. 
Habitat. Discovery Bay, S.E. coast of New Guinea. 
