64 HUNTING EXTINCT ANIMALS 



being turned, so that one can cut across their course and 

 get fairly near them. The natives kill them and eat the 

 heavy flanks, which, while not over tender, are very palata- 

 ble meat. The feathers of this species, Darwin's rhea 

 (found only on the Patagonian pampa, and one of the 

 three kinds), have little value, selling for less than 40 cents 

 a pound, and used only in making up artificial plumes. 



Several female birds lay in one nest, depositing from 

 twelve to thirty eggs. These are incubated forty- two days 

 by the male bird, which may, however, leave the nest during 

 the warm part of the day. After the eggs are hatched it is 

 the male bird again that broods the young and leads them 

 about in search of food. In late November and early 

 December we saw several of these broods of young acting 

 very much like young chickens. While all the eggs that 

 are expected to hatch are laid in nests, many single ones are 

 left scattered about the prairie, and during September and 

 October every rider expects to pick up eggs to add to his 

 larder. Each female is said to lay at intervals of three 

 days, and probably lays in more than one nest. The lay- 

 ing period covers about two months. 



An average egg is 3 3/4 by 5 1/4 inches in diameter, or 

 II 3/4 by 13 3/4 inches in circumference, a rather light 

 bluish-green in color, the contents appearing much like 

 those of a hen's egg, and being equal to about seven of them 

 in bulk. When cooked we found the white did not coagu- 

 late as densely as that of the hen's egg, but remained more 

 gelatinous. The flavor is rich and does not differ mate- 

 rially from the familiar egg. We blew the contents out of 

 the shells, which latter were saved for the museum, and 

 had a series of breakfasts of scrambled eggs, two at a time, 

 until Billy concluded they were too valuable to be used so 

 recklessly and made the remainder into "powerful johnny 

 cakes." 



That evening a native came into camp and laid out a 

 course for us which in four leagues (twelve miles) should 



