CASSOWARY

(genus Casuarius) any of several species of large flightless birds of the Australo-Papuan region. Cassowaries are the only members of the family Casuariidae and belong to the order Casuariiformes, which also includes the emu. The cassowary has been known to kill humans with slashing blows of its feet: the innermost of its three toes bears a long, daggerlike nail. The bird moves rapidly along narrow tracks in the bush, its naked blue head protected by a bony helmet, or casque. The body is black in adults, brownish in immature birds. The female lays three to six green eggs, each of which is about 13 cm (5 inches) long and weighs 650 g (23 ounces). The male incubates these for about 50 days in a leafy nest on the ground and may also provide most of the early care of the striped young. Cassowaries forage for fruits and small animals. There are three species (counted by some experts as six), each with several races. The common, or southern, cassowary, Casuarius casuarius, which inhabits New Guinea, nearby islands, and Australia, is the largestalmost 1.5 m (5 feet) talland has two long, red wattles on the throat.