Fig. 154.—The Nandou, or Rhea (Struthio Rhea, Linn.).
The flesh of the adult Nandou is by no means agreeable; that of the young, on the contrary, is tender and sweet, and forms excellent food. Its skin, when properly dressed, is used for bags, purses, &c., and their feathers serve for plumes and light dusting brooms. We owe the perfect knowledge of a second species of Rhea to Mr. Darwin, who has given a figure and ample descriptions of the bird and its habits in "The Voyage of the Beagle;" it has been named in consequence Rhea Darwinii. There is every reason for thinking that these birds might be successfully acclimated in Europe.
Fig. 155.—Cassowary (Struthio casuarius, Linn.).
The Cassowaries form a genus of birds allied to the Ostrich, although they differ from it in some particulars—their shape is not so elegant, and their wings are even less adapted for flight; for so short are they, that they are perfectly useless even to assist in running. Their long blackish feathers are almost devoid of side fringes, which gives them a resemblance to coarse hair; their feet are provided with three toes. This bird was called the Emu by early Portuguese navigators. It is the Struthio casuarius of Linnæus, the Casuarius galeatus of Vieillot, and the Cassowary of British naturalists.
The Cassowary has a kind of helmet on its head, produced by an enlargement of the bone of the skull, and covered with a horny substance. It is a massively-made bird, in size between the Ostrich and the Rhea, and is a native of the islands of the Indian Archipelago, the Moluccas, Java, and Sumatra. It is especially plentiful in the vast forests of the island of Ceylon. The first bird of this species which was seen in Europe was brought from Java by the Dutch in 1597. It is a stupid, quarrelsome, and gluttonous creature, feeding on plants, fruits, and sometimes small animals. Possessed of considerable strength, and being wild and fierce in nature, its anger cannot be provoked without danger; for, although its wings are short, each is furnished with five pointed spines, the middle one of which is a foot long, and which are employed with adroitness as weapons of defence. Its habitual cry consists of a low grumbling, which, when the bird is angry, is changed into a sonorous humming noise, not unlike the sound of carriage-wheels or of distant thunder.
The menagerie of the Museum of Natural History at Paris was in possession of a Cassowary which devoured everything that was given it—bread, fruit, vegetables, &c., and drank seven or eight pints of water daily. In the London and the Paris Zoological Gardens there are generally several to be seen.
The Cassowary runs very swiftly, and in a way quite peculiar, for it kicks up its heels at every step. They live in pairs, and during the breeding season the male bird shows a degree of violence which renders him very formidable. The female lays three or four eggs in the dust, and sits on them alone for about a month. The young birds, when first hatched, are covered with a light down, and are without the helmet, which it acquires as it approaches maturity.
The wild nature of these birds renders them but little fitted for domestication: this is a fact not much to be deplored, as their flesh is of an unpleasant flavour, and in no other respect than as food could they be of any service to us.
The Emu, or Australian Cassowary (Dromiceius australis), [Fig. 156], is distinguished from the last-named bird by its larger size, and also by the absence of the helmet, the caruncles, and the pointed spines on the wings. It was formerly common in the great forests of the Eucalyptus, in Australia, but the clearings of the colonists have now driven it back beyond the Blue Mountains. Being very powerful, it offers a stout resistance to dogs, with which it is hunted. It can be tamed much more easily than the last-mentioned bird, and manifests some attachment to its master. It is an excellent and useful acquisition to man, for its flesh being of an agreeable flavour, is much esteemed. The few specimens which have been brought to Europe seem to have been readily acclimated, for they have bred.