366 



OSTRYA-OTHONNA. 



front, the lateral ones equal to each other ; the claws 

 upon all the toes are of nearly equal length, rounded, 

 compressed, and blunt ; the tibia feathered down very 

 nearly to the tarsal joint ; and the wings, which are 

 quite unfit for flight, are furnished with plumes of 

 greater or less length, and terminated by a single spur. 



As is the case with the ostrich of the eastern con- 

 tinent, there is only one species of this bird, and it is 

 confined to a particular locality, though within the 

 range of that locality it is far from being a rare bird. 

 It is bluish ash-grey on the upper part ; the crown 

 and hind head are blackish ; a black band begins at 

 the nape, descends the lower part of the neck, which 

 it surrounds, and gets broader on the shoulders ; the 

 scapular feathers are ash-coloured, and so are most 

 of the plumes of the wings, but the larger ones are 

 white at the base and blackish in the middle, and 

 some of them are altogether white ; the bill and feet 

 are reddish grey ; the height of the bird is an inch 

 or two less than five feet, being thus considerably 

 smaller than the ostrich. 



This bird is quite unknown in the immediately 

 tropical part of America, its principal locality being 

 in the plains of Paraguay, and, where the ground is 

 adapted for it, it is found in the elevated valleys 

 among the Andes, and along the southern part of the 

 continent as far as the Strait of Magellan. It must 

 not be understood, however, that though the rhea is 

 found in America in latitudes as high as the southern 

 part of the British islands, it is in any way a bird of 

 temperate climates ; for, though the country which it 

 inhabits is not very hot, still it is decidedly tropical 

 in its vegetation, and in all its natural characters ; 

 and some species of humming birds extend at least 

 as far southward as the rhea. 



The extensive plains of the Pampas, to the south- 

 westward of Buenos Ayres, are its head-quarters. 

 Those plains are very peculiar in their seasonal charac- 

 ter. For a short time, and but a short time, they are 

 comparatively barren ; but for the greater part of the 

 year a luxuriant crop of thistles, and other composites, 

 alternates with an equally luxuriant crop of clover, 

 each one dying down, and furnishing a rich manure 

 for the other. Human inhabitants are but few in 

 those plains ; but the birds under notice, and also 

 wild cattle and horses, are exceedingly numerous. 

 The cattle are very active, and the horses are swift ; 

 but it is doubtful whether the rheas are not fleetest 

 of the three. 



When tranquil, their gait is sober, their neck is 

 elevated, and the back is curved. In grazing they 

 cut the grass with much neatness. The time of 

 reproduction is in the month of July ; and at this 

 season the males send forth cries similar to the low- 

 ing of cattle. They form the nest on the ground ; it 

 is rather wide, very shallow, and sometimes lined 

 with a little straw. The eggs are between five and 

 six inches in diameter, of equal proportions at both 

 ends ; their colour is yellowish white, and they are 

 very smooth on the -surface ; and a single nest some- 

 times contains from sixty to eighty eggs. M. Azzara 

 is of opinion that these are the production of many 

 families of the same district ; and he states, as an 

 ascertained fact, that a single individual, said to be 

 the male, hatches the eggs, and takes the charge of 

 conducting and protecting the young. It is conjec- 

 tured that the male selects some eggs from the others, 

 and breaks them, in order that the insects which 

 come to feed on the broken eggs may serve as food 



for the young birds. But, though this is said, it is by 

 no means probable ; and indeed, in all the local 

 accounts which are given of this bird, so much 

 romance is mixed up with the truth, that it is ex- 

 tremely difficult to separate the one from the other. 

 When the young birds are brought up in houses, they 

 are very familiar ; they soon become domesticated, 

 and exhibit a great deal of curiosity in examining 

 the different apartments. They also walk in the 

 streets, and stray abroad to considerable distances 

 from their habitations, but they generally return to 

 the places where they are accustomed to be fed. 

 They unhesitatingly swallow pieces of metal and 

 small stones when these come in their way. In the 

 young state the flesh is tender and tolerably well 

 flavoured. Though these birds seem never to drink, 

 they are not averse to take the water. They are 

 excellent swimmers, and often traverse the rivers and 

 lakes out of choice. 



The skin of the rhea, like that of the ostrich, is 

 very strong, and the inhabitants of those parts of South 

 America in which the birds abound make use of it for 

 a variety of purposes. The feathers of the wings are 

 also used for ornaments, but they have neither the 

 size nor the elegance of the corresponding feathers 

 of the ostrich. Comparatively few of them arc 

 white, and even such as are, are by no means equal 

 in colour to ostrich feathers. The taking of the 

 birds, when nearly full grown, is a favourite sport 

 with the Guachoes of the Pampas. They follow them 

 on horseback, and, as the vegetation is then long, the 

 horse gets on rather more swiftly than the bird. 

 They are captured indifferently with the two instru- 

 ments of which these people make such dexterous 

 use the lasso and the bolas. The lasso is a noose at 

 the end of a long thong of leather ; and it is de- 

 livered with such certainty, that the Guachoe, riding 

 full speed, can catch the birds by the neck, the body, 

 or the leg, just as he pleases. The bolas or balls, 

 again, are of such weight, that the bird is knocked 

 down by the blow of them. 



OSTRYA (Micbaux). A genus of hardy 

 trees, natives of North America. The flowers are 

 monoecious, and the genus is ranked among the Amcn- 

 tacccB, These trees are common in our ornamental 

 plantations, and known by the name of hop-hornbeam. 

 They are raised from seeds or layers. 



OSYRIDE^E. A small natural order containing 

 only two-. genera, viz., Osyris and Exocarpos, of each 

 a single species. They are trees with flexile twigs, 

 and from the acidity of the leaves the Osyrus is called 

 mountain sorrel, or poets' cassia. It is easily pro- 

 pagated by cuttings, but hardly hardy enough to 

 stand our winters without covering. The Osyr'is of 

 Pliny was a marvellous vegetable endowed with the 

 property of curing every disease. But our modern 

 Osyris cannot certainly be the plant which he de- 

 scribes, for, excepting a slight astringency, it possesses 

 no sensible properties as a medicine, and is now only 

 used for making besoms. O.japonica is occasionally 

 eaten as a salad. Exocarpos has received its name 

 from the enlarged receptacles on which the fruit is 

 placed, giving the appearance of being a seed outside 

 of its seed-vessel : a new species of Exocarpos is 

 remarkable for bearing its flowers on the margins of 

 dilated foliaceous branches, concerning which it would 

 be difficult otherwise to determine whether they were 

 boughs or leaves. 



OTHONNA (Linnaeus). A genus of very various 



