CASSOWARY (Fr. easoar, Sp. casoario, ea soba r, Dutch easuaar, front Malay b:assvcy'arisl. A family (Casuariithe) of ratite birds allied to the ostrich. bat distinctively characterized by still greater shortness of wing. IT a bony crest, by pendent wattles on the naked neck, and by three toes on each foot, the inner toe short and armed with a very long and sharp claw. There are also very important anatomical differences (see Huxley, Proceedings Zoological Society of London, 1867), especially in its digestive or gans, which are not adapted to the same coarse diet. Cassowaries are still more closely allied to the emus, and with them form a group (Me gistanes) peculiar to the Australian region. About twelve species of are known, of which the most familiar is that from Ceram (Can-uarius galeat us), known since 1597 and frequently seen in nienageries. It is the largest known bird except the ostrich, and its height, when erect, is about 5 feet. The color is brown ish-Idaek. The feathers are loosely webbed and hang down. so that at a little the bird seems clothed with hair. Those of the rump are If inches long, hanging down in place of a tail. The head and upper part of the neck :ire baked. and of a bluish color. awl there are two pendent wattles, partly red and partly !din.. on the fruit of the neck. On the breast is a cal lous 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 inches high. exhibiting the most intense blue, purple, and scarlet, blend ed together. When attacked it defends itself
by kicking obliquely backward with its stout, naked legs and feet, and by striking with its short wings, the rigid, barbless shafts of which, although useless even to aid in its running. are not without value as weapons. There are only about five of them in each wing, somewhat re sembling the quills of a porcupine, and at the (nd of the last joint of the wing there is a spur.
The cassowary lays a few eggs, which are rough. greenish, and are incubated by the cock. Its flesh is black, tough, and juiceless. The cassowary is not infrequently to be seen in menageries in Europe, hut is becoming more rare in its native regions, in which it is some times kept tame. Not lunch is known of the habits of any of these birds, which dwell in deep forests and are vegetable-eaters. They are frequently tamed by the natives and breed read ily in confinement. Their skin and feathers are widely used in clothing and ornament; their bones point spears; and their flesh, though tough and dark, is eaten. The fullest account of the genus is that by Salvadori, in his great Italian work on the ornithology of the Papuan region. One species, having an excessively large helmet (('a•earies Australis). occurs in northern Aus tralia. Another (rasuaries Bennetti), peculiar to New Britain, is known as `nmorup' (not `mooruk,' as usually spelled). See Plate of CAS SOWARIES, ETC.