THE



Hvtcultural flfoagastne,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICU LTURAL SOCIETY.



VOL. VIII. — NO. 7. All rights reserved. MAY, 1902.



RHEAS IN CAPTIVITY.


By Major H. Fothergile, J.P.


I have had an interesting experience with my pair of old

Rheas. The female laid twenty-three eggs, some of them many

weeks after the male had commenced to sit. After sitting the

usual six weeks he hatched ont six strong little birds and left the

nest with these. I took nine eggs which remained in the nest

and placed them under large barn-door fowls, one of which

hatched out two young Rheas shortly afterwards. On the

appearance of these strange youngsters, when the eggs burst

open in two halves with a slight explosion, the hen immediately

rushed away with a cry of terror, leaving the chicks to their fate.

I thereupon wrapped them in flannel until the evening when

they were put under the male Rhea, who took to them all right.


The accompanying photograph shows the male Rhea with

the eight chicks, nearly full grown, being fed by me.


The Rhea is a native of South America, and inhabits a

district of country about 200 miles in breadth running from the

north-east to the south-west, (a)


My experience with these birds, during many years, is as

follows : —The hen lays her eggs promiscuously about the field,

and her mate, with his beak, collects them into a hollow, which

he scoops out in the ground. He then sits and hatches out the

young birds in 42 days. The female has nothing further to do

in the matter, and, in fact, is apt to tease her mate and cause

trouble if not removed into another field. The male Rhea

becomes exceedingly savage and dangerous during the breeding

season, and, at that time of the year, makes a loud, booming

sound which I have heard quite a mile away. The female makes

no sound whatever.



(a) The Common Khea (Rhea americana) is replaced south of Rio Negro by Darwin’s

Rhea (A\ danvini) which occurs as far south as the Straits of Magellan.—Eo.



