BIEDS OF ARGENTINA, PAEAGUAY, URUGUAY, AISD CHILE 23 



to change with shifts in the name of the type genus. Such changes 

 though lamentable are less confusing than shifts in the facies of a 

 family complex, such as might result if the other course that has been 

 -outlined is adopted. 



Such a course is implied in the International Code of Nomen- 

 •clature (art. 5), which specifies that "the name of a family or sub- 

 family is to be changed when its type genus is changed." 



Order RHEIFORMES 

 Family RHEIDAE 



RHEA AMERICANA (Linnaeus) 



Struthio americanus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 155. 

 (Sergii)e, Brazil.) 



In spite of continued pursuit by Indian and white hunters the 

 rhea still remains in fair abundance in the wilder sections of the 

 ■Chaco, while on many of the extensive estancias in the pampas of 

 Argentina and Uruguay the birds are preserved in bands that in 

 many instances include a large number of individuals. In settled 

 districts, where land has been divided into small holdings, the great 

 birds have been largely exterminated, a fate that will befall the 

 majority as rural population increases. At the Riacho Pilaga, For- 

 mosa, in August, 1920, Indians brought in bundles of rhea plumes 

 for trade, to be sold later in Buenos Aires where they were made 

 into feather dusters. Near the railroad at this same locality rheas 

 still occurred in some of the open camps, but were more abundant 

 farther inland toward the Rio Pilcomayo. Occasional bands were 

 observed from the train in traversing the railroad line leading 

 northwest into the interior from the town of Formosa. 



In the Paraguayan Chaco west of Puerto Pinasco rheas were 

 common. In 1920 fences on the holdings of the International Prod- 

 ucts Co. had been extended westward to a point 120 kilometers from 

 the Rio Paraguay. Outside this boundary rheus Avere encountered 

 frequently but were wild and wary, as they were subject to pursuit 

 by Indians who frequently offered bundles of plumes or sections of 

 skin for sale. Small bands were to be seen within the fences in 

 some of the league square fotrerofi^ where open savannahs offered 

 suitable range, and near the ranch at Kilometer 80, west of Puerto 

 Pinasco, rheas were observed frequently, especially in the region 

 along the Riacho Jacare. On my arrival in that region on Sep- 

 tember 6 I was told that a rhea's nest containing 43 eggs had been 

 found a week previous, and during the period of my stay male 

 rheas were heard booming during the morning hours. On one oc- 

 casion (September 12) in company with Carl Hettman I heard this 



