Cassowary

“ They pride themselves on having long thin legs like a cassowary. This reflection affords them peculiar satisfaction when they go out to fight, or to run away, as the case may be; for at such times a Cassowary man will say to himself, "My leg is long and thin, I can run and not feel tired; my legs will go quickly and the grass will not entangle them." Members of the Cassowary clan are reputed to be pugnacious, because the cassowary is a bird of very uncertain temper and can kick with extreme violence. ”

“ Once I had the luck to see an old cassowary with two young birds walking about in a stony river bed, a place which they particularly affect, and it was a very pretty sight to see how the mother bird, after she had caught sight of me, drove away the chicks to a place of safety and all the time kept herself between them and me. The natives hunt and kill and eat a good many cassowaries; the feathers are used for ornamental head-dresses and belts and for decorating spears and clubs, and the claws are often used as the points of arrows. ”

“ Cassowaries, as most people know, are extremely fond of dancing; and Mrs. Vandaleur incited the Marquis, first to dance with the bird, and afterwards to give an imitation of its style. I do not think I ever saw anything funnier than the tall, thin bird and the tall, fat Marquis, setting to partners on the green grass court, the cassowary taking its part quite seriously, and sidling, chasséeing, springing, like a girl in a theater; the man craning his neck in imitation, stepping stiff-legged, as it stepped and using his arms exactly as it used its wings. ”

“ Great interest, therefore, attaches to the recent discovery of a Cassowary in Australia, as yet only imperfectly known, and so nearly related to the Cassowary of Ceram that doubts have been expressed as to their distinctness. They are both incapable of flight, the wings being represented by five or six bare, cylindrical, pointed quills, like those of a porcupine, and, consequently, the bird could not fly nor pass from one island to another. ”

“ So large a struthious bird as the cassowary requires more extensive feeding-grounds and greater seclusion than was to be found in any island of the Banda Group, and, as at the present day so in the past, Ceram was the true home of the Malayan cassowary, which found and which finds in the extensive forests of that island the home adapted to its requirements. ”

“ When the natives bestir themselves they seem to be able to catch the wallaby fairly easily; in four consecutive days we saw the remains of thirteen brought into the village of Parimau. The flesh is coarse and has a very strong musky flavour.
There are two kinds of Cassowary in the Mimika district, a small species new to science (Casuarius claudi) , which was discovered in the mountains at an altitude of about 1500 feet, and a large species (Casuarius sclateri) , which was fairly abundant everywhere. ”

“ When they had arrived there they continued for a long time to search in vain for their object, and the soldier was just about to be stigmatized with ignorance, credulity or imposture, when suddenly up started the old bird and the treasure was found at their feet.
The food of the cassowary is either grass, or a yellow bell-flower growing in the swamps. It deserves remark, that the natives deny the cassowary to be a bird, because it does not fly. ”

“ This bird is not uncommon to New Holland, as several of them have been seen about Botany Bay, and other parts. . . . Although this bird cannot fly, it runs so swiftly that a greyhound can scarcely overtake it. The flesh is said to be in taste not unlike beef."
1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. xi. p. 438:
"The cassowary of New South Wales is larger in all respects than the well-known bird called the cassowary."
1869. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia' (Supplement) :
"Casuarius Australis, Wall., Australian Cassowary, sometimes called Black Emu." ”

“ Among the many parrots, which include such strange forms as the white and the black cockatoos, there are some which are unique in the beauty of their colours. So remarkable a decoration as the tail of the lyre-bird (Menura) is found nowhere else in the world of birds.
The stately emu, which together with the cassowary represents the ostrich family in Australia, is still numerous in the open country. The cassowary, on the other hand, which is found only in the north-eastern tropical part, is rare, and will doubtless soon become extinct as civilisation gradually advances and clears the scrubs. ”

“ Even when inflated this pouch gives no very obvious sign of its existence, but it serves to produce a curious hollow, drumming sound, like the boom of a big drum softly beaten. But why it should have been developed, when the Ostrich and the Cassowary produce similar but louder “music” without any special apparatus 113whatever, is a mystery. At least one species of Cassowary can emit a roar which would do credit to a lion.
In the males of all healthy animals the periodic stimulus to reproduction finds expression in more or less striking eccentricity of conduct. ”

“ I saw in a flash that Cassowary had either lied or was mistaken. No man could look like that when he spoke of a boy that was not his own. Oh! how could this boy doubt his father? However I could not honourably lead the way to the spot where the unhappy lad was hiding, so I stepped out beside Mr. Devering and went with him down to the house where I took my usual station under the lilacs, my ears turned forward to catch all that was going on. ”

“ Very few people can endure this. They hastily produce anything they have—anything to conciliate the contemptuous cassowary. And as he takes it, an expression steals across the cassowary's face which seems to admit that perhaps the fellow isn't such a shocking outsider after all. When a man has nothing more nutritive about him, this form of extortion may produce halfpence.
THE CURSOREAN THERMOMETER.
The rhea is small potatoes beside the ostrich—merely a smaller and dingier camel-gander. But the emeu is a fine upstanding fellow, with his haughty sailing head and his great feather boa. ”

“ It was an easy matter for Cassowary to move the suitcase to the bungalow, where you found it. I steered you to the house on purpose to see how you and Bobby would hit it off. The result seems to have been satisfactory!”
Cassowary turned uneasily on his bench.
“And before we quit all this foolishness,” Hood resumed with a glance at the chauffeur, “there’s one thing I want to ask you, Mr. Deering, as a special favor. That chap lying over there is Tommy Torrence, whom you kicked off your door-step for daring to love your 184 daughter. He’s one of the best fellows in the world. ”

“ This bird was sometimes ill-tempered and mischievous, and much irritated when any person approached it of a dirty or ragged appearance, or dressed in red clothes, and frequently attempted to strike at them by kicking forward with its feet. It has been known to leap out of its enclosure and to tear the legs of a man with its claws.
The Cassowary is very vigorous and powerful; its beak being, in proportion, much stronger than that of the ostrich, it has the means of defending itself with great advantage, and of easily pulling down and breaking in pieces almost any hard substance. ”

“ Another gigantic bird, whose wings are but partially developed, and whose legs are long and robust, the galeated or helmeted Cassowary (Casuarius) , is a native of Java and the adjacent islands of the Indian Archipelago. His head is surmounted by a sort of osseous crest or horny helmet. In size he is much inferior to the ostrich, not exceeding five feet when erect; but he is robustly built, and of exceeding strength. His plumage is very poorly supplied with feathers, so as to resemble at a little distance, it is said, a coat of coarse or hanging hair. He is a swift runner, like the ostrich ”

“ This is a species differing in many particulars from that generally known, and is a much larger bird, standing higher on its legs, and having the neck longer than in the common one. Total length seven feet two inches. The bill is not greatly different from that of the common Cassowary; but the horny appendage, or helmet on the top of the head, in this species is totally wanting: the whole of the head and neck is also covered with feathers, except the throat and fore part of the neck about half way, which are not so well feathered as the rest ”

“ A single egg, the production of a cassowary, was picked up in a desert place, dropped on the sand, without covering or protection of any kind. Its form was nearly a perfect ellipsis; and the colour of the shell a dark green, full of little indents on its surface. ”

“ Cassowary (Casuarius) .—A bird of ostrich affinities, living in New Guinea, and other Malay Islands, and Northern Australia. They have rudimentary wings, live in dense forests, head protected by horny helmet, have blue, red and yellow wattles, three-toed feet, the inner toe with powerful claw, used as weapon, eat large quantities of miscellaneous articles, including indigestible ones; and can be tamed. Their cry is a loud croak. Their eggs, five in number, are laid in August and September, in nests on ground, covered in brush. The young are brownish, but gradually become blacker. ”

“ The cassowaries of the Papuan district are somewhat more bird-like in type, but they also preserve many antique features, especially in the relative smallness of the head and brain compared with the general size of the whole body. The Australian emus approach more closely to the true ostriches, and their feathers are far more feathery than those of the cassowary. ”

“ The family of birds, of which the ostrich forms the leading type, is remarkable for the wide dispersion of its various members; the ostrich itself spreads over nearly the whole of the burning deserts of Africa—the Cassowary represents it amid the luxuriant vegetation of the Indian Archipelago. ”

“ The eggs are all of a rusty red colour, and very large for the size of the bird, being generally three or three and a quarter inches long, by two or two and a quarter wide. They are very good eating, and are much sought after by the natives.
Another large and extraordinary bird is the Cassowary, which inhabits the island of Ceram only. It is a stout and strong bird, standing five or six feet high, and covered with long coarse black hair-like feathers. ”

“ The adults it is impossible to make prisoners, as they are remarkably swift and possess great strength in the legs; on the least alarm they at once dart into thick brushwood, where no human being could follow them, and disappear like magic. We can do no better than give our readers the benefit of Bennett's own graphic and circumstantial account of this Cassowary, which he alone has been at the trouble of training and closely observing:—"My birds," says that naturalist, "when placed in the yard walked about as tame as Turkeys. ”

“ She spoke with great conviction, yet in a few days this queer girl was beating my young master like a little fury.
Mr. Devering sauntered in to Dallas' room through the open French window and Cassowary turned to me.
[Pg 107]
CHAPTER IX CASSOWARY TRIES MY PACES
"The evening is young yet. Dad says you are a racing pony. Come, show me your paces," and in a jiffy this swift girl had Drunkard chained to a veranda post, and had seized a new riding bridle that someone had thrown on a chair.
Then she sprang on my back, and giving my neck a slap said, "Head of the Lake, racer." ”

“ He jumped for his knife in a battling rage, intending to close in and finish his adversary, who was now kicking feebly, when he heard a shout, and turned to see Sadok and the curator come running across the swales. A sumpitan dart sticking in the bird’s side told all!
“Did he hurt you?” yelled the curator, sprinting toward him. “Don’t ever go near a wounded cassowary, you darn fool!” he exploded, wrathfully, as he came up. “Don’t you know they’re more dangerous than a kangaroo? Look!” ”

“ Cassowaries are found only in Australia, New Guinea, Ceram, and some of the neighboring islands, and, unlike all the preceding birds, are dwellers in the forest. They are so shy that they are very seldom seen, so that we do not know very much about their habits. The Australian natives, however, often keep them in captivity, and treat them almost as we treat poultry. But they are rather dangerous creatures, for they can kick very hard with their great, strong feet, and are very ready to attack any one who is a stranger to them. ”

“ The cassowaries, when adult, bear a horny helmet on their head; they have some part of the neck bare, generally more or less ornamented with caruncles, and the claw of the inner toe is remarkably elongated. The emeus have no helmet, their head is feathered, their neck has no caruncles, and their inner toes bear a claw of no singular character.
The type of the Casuariidae is the species named by Linnaeus Struthio casuarius and by John Latham Casuarius emeu. ”

“ The differences between species are based chiefly upon the bright orange red and purple colors of their upper necks and wattles.
In size the Cassowaries are all of them smaller than the emeus. In captivity they are the best of all the large cursorial 166 birds, and live longer than either ostriches, rheas or emeus. They are essentially birds of the thick forests rather than open plains, and can not bear the glaring light and heat of midsummer that is the delight of an ostrich. In captivity they are very apt to be quarrelsome toward each other. ”