[ 54 J 



and were recjavded as great delicacies. Though equal in weight to 

 twenty-f c >ur hen's eggs, one was not thought enough for a meal, 

 and in one instance two men finished five eggs in the course of an 

 afternoon. The approved method of cooking was to place the egg 

 upright on the fire, and break a hole in the top, through which a 

 forked stick was forced. This was made to rotate by rubbing with 

 the hands, and so beat up the contents while cooking. 



AMERICAN OSTRICHES. 



The American Ostriches contained two species. Rhea 

 Americana and R. Darwenii, and were scarcely more than half the 

 size of the African species, from which they also differed in having 

 the head and neck covered with feathers, and the feet furnished 

 with three toes. The feathers of the wing and tail, though 

 elongated, possessed none of the beauty of the African ostrich, and 

 were only employed in the manufacture of light dusting brooms. 

 They were very abundant in the large plains of America. The food 

 consisted mainly of grasses, roots, and other vegetable substances ; 

 but they would occasionally eat animal food, being known to come 

 down to the mud banks of the rivers for the purpose of eating the 

 little fish that had been stranded in the shallows. Darwin, who had 

 frequent opportunities of observing these birds, had given an 

 excellent account of their habits. He says:— "They take the 

 water readily, and swim across broad and riipid rivers, and even 

 from island to island in the bays. They swim slowly, with the 

 greater part of the body immersed, and the neck extended a little 

 forwards. On two occasions I saw some ostriches swimming across 

 the Santa Cruz river, where it was 400 yards wide and the stream 

 rapid." It was polygamous; the male bird prepared the nest, 

 collected the eggs, which were frequently laid by the females at 

 random on the ground, and performed all the duties of incubation. 

 Darwin said four or five females had been known to lay in the same 

 nest, and the male, when sitting, lay so close that he himself nearly 

 rode over one. At this time they were very fierce, and had been 

 known to attack a man on horseback, trying to kick and leap on 

 him. 



THE AUSTRALIAN EMETJ. 



The Emeu of Australia, Dromaius Novce Hollandice was nearly 

 as large as the African ostrich, measuring from 5 to 7ft. in height. 



