tN 
NEORNITHES RATITAE CHAP. 
Oo 
apparently to aid progress—-when fresh exertions are neces- 
sary. Mr. Hudson tells us’ that Darwin’s Rhea “ carries its neck 
stretched forward, which makes it seem lower in stature than the 
allied species.” The diet consists chiefly of grass, roots, and 
seeds, but berries of Himpetrwm are a favourite food, and lizards, 
insects, worms, and molluscs are said to be eaten, together with 
hard substances to promote digestion. Nandus take readily to 
the water, and can swim across a river several hundred yards 
wide, the body being hardly visible. In spring the cock utters 
a deep, resonant, booming noise, a loud hiss being not uncommonly 
heard also; while at that season the rival males attack each 
other viciously with their beaks, trampling down the ground in 
their passion, but not generally using their feet, as they do when 
wounded. The hens secured by each of the cocks lay together in 
a mere depression in the soil with very little, if any, lining; the 
eges numbering from twenty to thirty, or exceptionally more, 
besides those scattered about outside the nest. Here again Mr. 
Hudson is our authority for stating * that the eggs of R. americana 
are golden yellow when fresh, those of &. darwini deep rich green ; 
both however fade quickly to a whitish colour. The male incubates 
very closely for about six weeks, often taking up his position, as 
the Ostrich does, before the final egg is laid; he afterwards 
attends upon the young, and charges intruders who seem 
dangerous, with outstretched wings and beak. Rheas may be 
captured by riding after them in a semicircle, which closes upon 
them as they go, or by means of long-winded hounds; but the 
most usual method is that of hurling the “bolas” or leaden balls 
connected by leather thongs, which wind around the bird’s neck 
or legs, and thereby hamper its movements or throw it down. 
The feathers, though inferior to Ostrich plumes, are much used 
for brooms and the like, and are said to be called “ Vautour” in 
the trade. The flesh is very poor. These birds have bred both 
on the Continent and in Britain. 
III. MEGISTANES. 
The MEGISTANES comprise the Caswariidae or Cassowaries, 
and the Dromaeidae or Emeus, the following being the chief 
peculiarities of the group. The wings are quite rudimentary ; 
1 Argentine Ornithology, ii. 1889, p. 220. 2 Op. cit. pp. 218, 220. 
