There is fortunately a young specimen of the Ceram Cassowary nearly of the same size as this young Australian one, and they are both of the same light, rusty brown colour, the Casuarius Australis being rather redder on the head and slightly blacker on the back than the C. galeatus. In neither specimen is the helmet developed. On comparing the two specimens, the tarsi of the Ceram species were found to be rather stronger than those of the C. Australis, and the left inner claw of the Ceram specimen half an inch shorter than the right one, one side agreeing with the Australian species. The little feathers on the two caruncles on the throat are nearly black in C. Australis, but much lighter in C. galeatus. Two distinctive characters are, however, shown by these specimens, not noticed before. The bill of the Australian Cassowary is much more slender than that of the Ceram bird; both mandibles, taken together vertically, being one-third deeper in the Indian species than in the Australian one, while the plumage of the latter is much looser than the former, from having the lateral barbs much fewer or further apart.
There can now be no doubt of the distinctness of the Queensland species, although very closely allied to that with which it has been compared, and also to the Mooruk of New Britain.
According to a correspondent in the Sydney Herald, those who obtained the adult bird state that they saw it running about in companies of seven or eight, in deep valleys at the foot of high hills. The flesh was eaten and found to be excellent—a single leg affording more food than several hungry men could dispose of at a meal. The whole build of this Cassowary is stronger and heavier than that of the Emu; it makes use of its powerful legs in the same manner as that bird. It is described as very wary, but its presence may be at once detected by its utterance of a peculiarly loud note, which is taken up and echoed along the gullies it principally frequents.
The KIVIS (Apteryges) bear but little resemblance to any of the members of their order as yet described. They are distinguishable by their compact body, short thick neck, comparatively short and four-toed foot, the entire absence of the tail, and the merely rudimentary development of the wings. Their plumage consists of long, lancet-shaped, flowing, and glossy feathers, which increase in size from the neck downwards, and have a somewhat loose web. The bill is very long, covered at the base with a long cere, and rather depressed, with the tip of the upper mandible overhanging the lower portion; the small nostrils are situated at the extremity of the beak. The legs are strong and short; the anterior toes long, powerful, and armed with formidable claws; the thick, short, hinder toe does not touch the ground, and is furnished with a still stronger claw resembling the spur of a Barn-door Cock. The tarsi and feet are covered with scales of various sizes.
These birds are strictly a New Zealand family. The first Apteryx seen in England was presented to Dr. Shaw in 1812, and after his death passed into the possession of the Earl of Derby. No other specimen was seen in Europe for more than twenty years, and its existence was therefore doubted by naturalists until 1833, when Mr. Yarrell read a most interesting paper on the subject before the Zoological Society, and established the family among accredited species. These strange birds, which at the first glance somewhat resemble a quadruped in appearance, are, it is said, wholly nocturnal in their habits, searching for food during the night, and moving actively, but with a most uncouth gait (see Plate), from place to place.
THE KIVI-KIVI.
The KIVI-KIVI (Apteryx Australis) has the plumage principally of a greyish brown, which is darkest on the back. The wing-quills are soft and rudimentary, and the face covered with soft hairs. This species is thirty inches long; the bill, from the base of the forehead to the tip, six inches; the reticulated tarsus two inches and a half; and the centre toe, with the claw, three inches and five-eighths. The favourite resorts of this bird, according to Bartlett, are localities densely covered with fern, among which it can readily conceal itself; if very hard pressed by the dogs usually employed in its capture, it takes refuge in crevices of the rocks, hollow trees, and in the deep holes which it excavates in the ground. In the latter chamber-like cavities it is said to construct its nest, which is composed of grasses and dried ferns.
"While undisturbed," says Mr. Short, in a communication to Mr. Yarrell, "the head is carried far back in the shoulders, with the bill pointing to the ground; but when pursued it runs with great swiftness, carrying the head elevated like the Ostrich. It is asserted to be almost exclusively nocturnal in its habits, and it is by torchlight that it is usually hunted by the natives, by whom it is sought after with the utmost avidity, the skins being highly prized for the dresses of the chiefs; indeed, so much are they valued that the natives can rarely be induced to part with them. The feathers are also employed in the construction of artificial flies for the capture of fish, precisely after the European manner. When attacked it defends itself very vigorously, striking rapid and dangerous blows with its powerful feet and sharp spur, with which it is also said to beat the ground in order to disturb the worms upon which it feeds, seizing them with its bill the instant they make their appearance; it also probably feeds upon snails, insects, &c."