220 RHEID^E. 



noble birds were slaughtered in such numbers that they have been 

 almost exterminated wherever the nature of the country admits of their 

 being chased. When on the Rio Negro in 1871 I was so anxious to 

 obtain specimens of this Rhea that I engaged several Indians by the offer 

 of a liberal reward to hunt for me, but they failed to capture a single 

 adult bird. I can only set down here the most interesting facts I was 

 able to collect concerning its habits, which are very imperfectly known. 



When pursued it frequently attempts to elude the sight by suddenly 

 squatting down amongst the bushes, which have a grey foliage, to which 

 the colour of its plumage closely assimilates. When hard pressed it 

 possesses the same habit as the Common Rhea of raising the wings 

 alternately and holding them up vertically ; and also doubles suddenly 

 like that species. Its speed is greater than that of the Common Rhea, but 

 it is sooner exhausted. In running it carries its neck stretched forward 

 almost horizontally, which makes it seem lower in stature than the allied 

 species, hence the vernacular name of " short Ostrich." It is found 

 in flocks of from three or four to thirty or more individuals. It begins 

 to lay at the end of July, that is a month before the Rhea americana. 

 Several females lay in one nest, which is merely a slight depression 

 lined with a little dry rubbish ; as many as fifty eggs are sometimes 

 found in one nest. A great many wasted or huacho eggs, as they are 

 called, are also found at a distance from the nest. I examined a number 

 of eggs brought in by the hunters, and found them vary greatly in 

 shape, size, and colour. The average size of the eggs was the same as 

 those of the Common Rhea; in shape they were more or less elliptical, 

 scarcely any two being precisely alike. The shell has a fine polish, and 

 when newly laid the colour is deep rich green. They soon fade, how- 

 ever, and the side exposed to the sun first assumes a dull mottled 

 green ; then this colour fades to yellowish, and again to pale stone-blue, 

 becoming at last almost white. The comparative age of each egg in the 

 nest may be known by the colour of the shell. The male incubates and 

 rears the young ; and the procreant habits seem altogether like those of 

 Rhea americana. 



The young are hatched with the legs feathered to the toes ; these leg- 

 feathers are not shed, but are gradually worn off as the bird grows old 

 by continual friction against the stiff scrubby vegetation. In adults 

 usually a few scattered feathers remain, often worn down to mere 

 stumps ; but the hunters told me that old birds are sometimes taken 

 with the legs entirely feathered, and that these birds frequent plains 

 where there is very little scrub. The plumage of the young is dusky 

 grey, without white and black feathers. When a year old they acquire 

 by moulting the mottled plumage of the adults, but do not attain their 

 full size until the third year. 



