577 



Order II. RIIE^. 



Three front toes present ; hallux absent ; middle phalanges 

 shortened. 



Maxillo-palatines large, fenestrated, not touching the vomer. 

 Palatines short, articulating with the vomer. 



Procoracoid process large. No clavicles. 



Tibia without bony bridge. 



Aftershaft absent. Quills very large. No tail-feathers. 



Caeca large. 



Syrinx tracheo-bronchial, with one pair of syringeal muscles. 



Neotropical. 



K.heas are smaller birds than Ostriches. Their external characters 

 are as follows : — 



Bill moderate, depressed, and broad, with the culmen flattened 

 and curved at the tip, which overlaps that of the under mandible ; 

 the nostrils large, oval, and placed in the middle of the bill in a 

 large membranous groove ; the membrane extends over the base of 

 the culmen. Neck long, feathered. Wings short, imperfect, and 

 furnished with long soft feathers. Tail not apparent. Tarsi very 

 long, strong, and covered in front with broad transverse scutes. 

 Toes short, the lateral ones shorter than the middle one, and un- 

 equal, the inner the shortest ; the claws moderate, strong, and 

 compressed. 



Only one family. 



Family RHEIDiE. 



1. RHEA. 



Type. 

 Rhea, Lath. Lid. Orn. i. p. 005, gou. Ixiii. (1790) ; 



liomi. Enc. Meth. i. Introd. p. xcii (1790) R. americana. 



Toujou, Lacept'de, Mem. List. iii. p. 519, gen. 128 



(1801) ( = llhea, Lath.). 



received some information on this subject from Mr. J. Petbericb, H.B.M. Consul 

 for the Soudan, who tells me that his hunters have actually had this bird 

 alive ; and I have requested him to endeavour to procure further evidence on 

 the point." 



Heuglin, from an independent source, nearly repeats the same thing: — "I 

 was told by a rather trustworthy man, a hunter, that south of Fazogloa, near 

 Djebel Dul, there existed a little didactylc Ostrich, not higher than Otis arahs, 

 but in figure and colour much like S. camelus" (!). 



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