CASSOWARY, Casuarius, a genus of birds nearly allied to the ostrich (see BuEvr 1•1:NNES and Osritten), but distinctively characterized by still greater shortness of wing, by a laterally compressed bill, by a bony crest, by pendent wattles on the naked neck, :Ind by three toes on each foot, all furnished with claws, the inner toe short, and armed with a very long and sharp claw. There are also very important anatomical differ ences in its digestive organs, which are not adapted to the same coarse diet, for the C. "has short intestines and small coeca, wants the intermediate stomach between the crop and gizzard, and its cloaca does not proportionally exceed that of other birds." Only one species is known, easuarius galeutus, sometimes called emu by the older naturalists, before that name was appropriated to the Australian bird which now alone receives it. The C. is a native of the Moluccas, New Guinea, and other Asiatic islands, chiefly inhabiting deep forests. In general appearance, it is not unlike the ostrich, but has a much shorter neck. It is the largest known bird except the ostrich, and its height, when erect, is about 5 feet. It feeds on fruit, eggs, and succulent herbage. When attacked, it defends itself by kicking obliquely backwards with its feet, and by striking with its short wings, the rigid barbless shafts of which, although useless even to aid it in running, are not without value as weapons. There are only about five of them in each wing,
somewhat resembling the quills of a porcupine; and at the end of the last joint of the wing there is a spur. The color of the C. is brownish black; the feathers are loosely webbed, and hang down, so that, at a little distance, the bird seems clothed with hair. Those of the rump are 14 in. long, hanging down in place of a tail. The head and upper part of the neck are naked and of a bluish color, and there are two pendent wat tles, partly red and partly blue, on the front of the neck. On the breast is a callous bare part, on which the bird rests its body on the ground. The bony crest or helmet reaches from the base of the bill to the middle of the crown, and is about 3 in. high, exhibiting the most intense blue, purple, and scarlet blended together. The C. lays a few eggs, which it leaves to be hatched by the heat of the sun; and which are greenish, and have a much thinner shell than those of the ostrich. Its flesh is black, tough, and juiceless. The C. is not unfrequently to be seen in menageries in Europe. but is becom ing more rare in its native regions, in which it is sometimes kept tame.