RHEA 787 



specimen in the Leverian Museum, and twenty years later said he 

 had seen only one other, and that still younger, in Bullock's collec- 

 tion (Gen. Hist. B. viii. p. 379). 1 A bird living in confinement at 

 Strasburg in 1806 was, however, described and figured by Hammer 

 in 1808 (Ann. du Museum, xii. pp. 427-433, pi. 39), and, though he 

 does not expressly say so, we may infer from his account that it had 

 been a captive for some years. In England the Report of the 

 Zoological Society for 1833 announced the E/hea as having been 

 exhibited for the first time in its gardens during the preceding 

 twelvemonth. Since then many other living examples have been 

 introduced, and it has bred both there and elsewhere in Britain, 

 but the young do not seem to be very easily reared. 2 



Though considerably smaller than the Ostrich, and, as before 

 stated, wanting its fine plumes, the Ehea in general aspect far more 

 resembles that bird than the other Ratitx. The feathers of the 

 head and neck, except on the crown and nape, where they are dark 

 brown, are dingy white, and those of the body ash-coloured tinged 

 with brown, while on the breast they are brownish-black, and on 

 the belly and thighs white. In the course of the memorable voyage 

 of the ' Beagle,' Darwin came to hear of another kind of Rhea, 

 called by his informants Avestruz petise, and at Port Desire on the 

 east coast of Patagonia he obtained an example of it, the imperfect 

 skin of which enabled Gould to describe it (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837, 

 p. 35) as a second species of the genus, naming it after its dis- 

 coverer. Rhea darwini differs in several well-marked characters 

 from the earlier known R. americana. Its bill is shorter than its 

 head ; its tarsi are reticulated instead of scutellated in front, with 

 the upper part feathered instead of being bare ; and the plumage 

 of its body and wings is very different, each feather being tipped 

 with a distinct whitish band, while that of the head and neck is 

 greyish-brown. A further distinction is also asserted to be shewn 

 by the eggs those of R. americana being of a yellowish-white, while 

 those of R. darwni have a bluish tinge. Some years afterwards 

 Mr. Sclater described (op. cit. 1860, p. 207) a third and smaller 

 species, more closely resembling the R. americana, but having 

 apparently a longer bill, whence he named it R. macrorhyncha, more 

 slender tarsi and shorter toes, while its general colour is very much 

 darker, the body and wings being of a brownish-grey mixed with 

 black. The precise geographical range of these three species is 

 still undetermined. While R. americana is known to extend from 

 Paraguay and southern Brazil through the state of La Plata to an 

 uncertain distance in Patagonia, R. darwini seems to be the proper 



1 The ninth edition of the Companion to this collection (1810, p. 121) states 

 that the specimen "was brought alive" [?to England]. 



2 Interesting accounts of the breeding of this bird in confinement are given, 

 with much other valuable matter, by Mr. Halting in the work already cited. 



