It was found by a soldier in a sequestered solitary situation, made in a patch of lofty fern about three feet in diameter, rather of an oblong shape and composed of dry leaves and tops of fern stalks, very inartificially put together.

The hollow in which lay the eggs, twelve in number, seemed made solely by the pressure of the bird.

The eggs were regularly placed in the following position.
O O O O O O O O O O O O The soldier, instead of greedily plundering his prize, communicated the discovery to an officer, who immediately set out for the spot.

When they had arrived there they continued for a long time to search in vain for their object, and the soldier was just about to be stigmatized with ignorance, credulity or imposture, when suddenly up started the old bird and the treasure was found at their feet.
The food of the cassowary is either grass, or a yellow bell-flower growing in the swamps.

It deserves remark, that the natives deny the cassowary to be a bird, because it does not fly.
Of other birds the varieties are very numerous.