THE RHEA. 



447 



wings are very short, aDcl so small that when they lie closely against 

 the body they can hardly be distinguished from the general plumage. 

 The nest of the Emeu is made by scooping a shallow hole in the 

 ground in some scrubby spot, and in this depression a variable number 

 of eggs is laid. Dr. Ben- 

 nett remarks that " there 

 is always an odd number, 

 some nests having been dis- 

 covered with nine, others 

 with eleven, and others, 

 again, with thirteen." The 

 color of the eggs is, while 

 fresh, a rich green of vary- 

 ing quality, but after the 

 shells are emptied and ex- 

 posed to the light the beau- 

 tiful green hue fades into 

 an unwholesome greenish 

 brown. Tiie parent birds 

 sit upon their eggs, as has 

 been related of the Ostrich. 

 The Emeu is not polyga- 

 mous, one male being ap- 

 portioned to a single fe- _ ^ . ^^ ^^„ ,. , 

 ^ 1 Emeu {Dromams Novce HollandiOB). 



America is not without representatives of this fine group of birds, 

 three distinct species being in the gardens of the Zoological Society. 



The Rhea is a native of South America, and is especially plentiful 

 along the river Plata. It is generally seen in pairs, though it some- 

 times associates together in flocks of twenty or thirty in number. 

 Like all the members of this group, it is a swift-footed and wary bird, 

 but possesses so little presence of mind that it becomes confused when 

 threatened with danger and runs aimlessly in one direction and then in 

 another, thus giving time for the hunter to come up and shoot it or 

 bring it to the ground with his " bolas " — a terrible weapon consisting 

 of a cord with a heavy ball at each end, which is flung at the bird 

 and winds its coils round its neck and legs, so as to entangle it and 

 bring it to the ground. 



The food of the Rhea consists mainly of grasses, roots, and other 

 vegetable substances, but it will occasionally eat animal food, being 

 known to come down to the mud-banks of the river for the purpose of 

 eating the little fish that have been stranded in the shallows. 



The well-known Cassowary is found in the Malacca, Java, and the 

 adjacent islands. 



