STRUTHIOUS BIRDS 281 



are slain annually, and whole districts have been 

 already depopulated, for the sake of these plumes, 

 which Mr. Harting tells us are known in the 

 feather trade as " vautour," In its general habits 

 the Rhea very closely resembles other Struthious 

 birds. It is more or less gregarious, living in 

 companies on the wide vast pampas, and, like its 

 African relative the Ostrich, frequently consorting — 

 probably for safety's sake — with deer and guanacos. 

 Of its aquatic habits Darwin wrote as follows in 

 his classic record of the Beagle's voyage : " It is 

 not generally known that Ostriches [Rheas] take 

 readily to the water. Mr. King informs me that 

 at the Bay of San Bias and at Port Valdes, in 

 Patagonia, he saw these birds swimming several 

 times from island to island. They ran into the 

 water both when driven down to a point, and 

 likewise of their own accord when not frightened ; 

 the distance crossed was about two hundred yards. 

 When swimming, very little of their bodies appear 

 above water; their necks are extended a little 

 forward, and their progress is slow. On two 

 occasions I saw some Ostriches swimming across 

 the Santa Cruz River, where its course was about 

 four hundred yards wide, and the stream rapid." 

 The Rhea is polygamous, several females laying 



