casque

noun

1. A helmet.

   “He beheld his child dashed to pieces, and almost buried under an enormous helmet, an hundred times more large than any casque ever made for human being, and shaded with a proportionable quantity of black feathers.”

2. A hard structure on the head of some birds, such as cassowaries, some hornbills and guineafowl, and some reptiles such as chameleons and basilisks.

   “Helmeted Hornbill, Rhinoplax vigil (CR): Restricted to the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo, this is the only hornbill species whose casque is solid keratin and therefore carvable.”

   “Smooth Casque-headed Basilisk – Cutete Policía . . . A flat-topped cephalic casque projects over the neck in this species. The posterior edge of this casque is smooth without projecting spines. . . Its vernacular name, cutete policía, is in allusion to the flat casque, said by some to resemble the service cap worn by Guatemalan police.”

3. Synonym of galea.