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Show 1876.] NORTH-EASTERN QUEENSLAND. 121 they throw it aside. I found they invariably refused green Loquats, but always picked them up in the bill first to try them. In confinement they become very tame, and may be allowed to walk about the place without restraint, coming when called, or more often running after and following any one who is accustomed to feed them. If disappointed or teased, they not unfrequently " show fight" by bristling up their feathers, and kicking out sideways or in front with force sufficient to knock a strong man down-a feat I have witnessed on more than one occasion. These birds are very powerful, and dangerous to approach when wounded. On more than one occasion a wounded bird has caused a naturalist to take to a tree ; the sharp nail of the inner toe is a most dangerous weapon, quite equal to the claw of a large Kangaroo, and capable of doing quite as much execution. I found the Cassowaries to be excellent swimmers, and frequently tracked them across a good-sized creek or river. On Hinchenbrook Island, situated about 1^ mile from the mainland, they have been frequently met with; and I have myself heard them calling at night and early in the morning as I passed up the channel, at a distance of at least 2 miles from them. Mr. Johnstone informs me he met with one swimming across a river of considerable width during his explorations while on the " North-east-Coast Exploring-Expedition." Their note, most usually emitted by the male, is a series of harsh guttural prolonged croakings quickly repeated, and continued for about 3 minutes ; it is very loud, and may be detected across the water at a distance of at least 3 miles on a still night. I have listened to it resounding through the scrubs at a distance of 1| mile on land, and then thought it close and one of the most unearthly noises I ever heard. They breed during the months of August and September. The first nest procured was found by some of Inspector Johnstone's black troopers, from whom Mr. Miller, a settler on the Herbert river, purchased some of the eggs. One which he kindly presented to me is of the light-green variety mentioned hereafter. The nest consists of a depression among the fallen leaves and debris with which the ground in the-scrubs is covered, with the addition of a few more dry leaves. The place selected is always in the most dense part, and well concealed by entangled masses of vegetation. The eggs were five in number in the only two instances recorded; and in both cases one of the eggs in each set differed from the other, being of a light-green colour, and having a much smoother shell. The others all have a rough shell, covered rather sparingly with irregular raised patches of dark but bright green on a lighter-green and smooth ground. In the pale (No. 1) variety these raisings on the shell are closer together, and not so well developed ; in both varieties they are more thinly spread over the central portion than at the ends. On the whole they closely resemble the eggs of Casuarius bennettii, in which similar variations are noticeable ; but they are larger, and of a greater diameter, being greatest in the middle. I am indebted to Inspector Robert Johnstone for the fine series of the eggs of this species which at present grace m y collection. |