14 PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS: ZOOLOGY. 



As late as 1872, Mr. W. H. Hudson writes in a communication to the 

 Zoological Society of London' : 



"I did not succeed in obtaining specimens of the Avestrits petise 

 [Rhea davwini). It is called by the Indians 'Molu Chinque' meaning 

 ' Dwarf Chinque,' the name of the common species being Chinque. They 

 are found over the whole country, from the Rio Negro to the Straits of 

 Magellan, and are also met with, but rarely, north of the river. They 

 were formerly exceedingly numerous along the Rio Negro ; but a few 

 years ago their feathers rose to an exorbitant price. Guachos and Indians 

 found that hunting the Ostrich was their most lucrative employment ; and 

 consequently these noble birds were pursued unceasingly, and slaughtered 

 in such numbers that they have been nearly exterminated wherever the 

 nature of the country admits of their being chased. I was so anxious to 

 obtain specimens of this bird that I engaged ten or twelve Indians, by 

 offering a liberal reward, to hunt for me ; they went out several times, but 

 failed to capture a single adult bird. 



"A few facts I have been able to gather in reference to them may not 

 prove uninteresting, as the Rhea darwini is but imperfectly known. 

 When hunted it frequently attempts to elude the sight by suddenly 

 squatting down amongst the bushes ; and when lying close amid the 

 grey-leaved bushes that cover the country it frequents, it very easily 

 escapes the sight. When hotly pursued it possesses the same remarkable 

 habit as the R. ainericana of raising the wings alternately and holding 

 them erect; it also manifests the same facility for suddenly doubling, in 

 order to avoid its pursuers. It runs more swiftly than the common 

 species, but is also more quickly exhausted. When running, the 

 A^. americana carries the neck erect or sloping slightly forward ; the 

 R. darwifii carries it stretched forward almost horizontally, making it 

 appear smaller than it is. From this habit it is said to derive the ver- 

 nacular name of ' Dwarf Ostrich.' They go in flocks of from three or four 

 to thirty or more individuals. I have not been able to learn if the males 

 fight together as do those of the R. americana, or if they possess like that 

 species a call-note. The strange trumpeting cry of the R. ainericana is 

 often heard after they have been hunted and scattered in all directions ; it 

 is an indescribable sound, and resembles somewhat the hollow heavy sigh 

 with which a bull often ends his bellowing, and appears to fill the air, so 



' Proc. Z06I. Soc. London (April), 1872, p. 534. 



