CLASS II. AVES: ORDER 6. CURSORES. 



261 



day, and the male takes his turn at night, wlien his superior strength is required to protect the 

 eggs or the newly-fledged young from the jackalls, tiger-cats, and other enemies. Some of these 

 animals, it is said, are not unfrequently found lying dead near the nest, destroyed by a stroke from 

 the foot of this powerful bird. The eggs weigh about three pounds, and are regarded as a great 

 delicacy. The cry of the ostrich, at a distance, sounds like the voice of a lion, and is frequently 

 mistaken for it. When pursued it runs with such rapidity as speedily to outstrip the swiftest 

 horse, and the hunters, therefore, either relieve one another in the chase, or bewilder the bird by 

 approaching it in several directions; but the pursuit is not always unattended with danger, as 

 the ostrich sometimes attacks its enemies, striking out with its feet with great force. It will carry 

 a man on its back without much diminution of speed. In captivity it often becomes tame and 

 gentle with those to whom it is accustomed, but generally exhibits more or less enmity toward 

 strangers, whom it will endeavor to knock down and trample underfoot. 



Genus RIIEA : Ehea. — This includes the American Ostrich, H. Americana, called also 



Nandou or Rhea: it is scarcely more than 

 half the size of the African species, from 

 which it also difl'ers in having the head 

 covered with feathers, and the feet fur- 

 nished with three toes. It is of a nearly 

 uniform gray tint, and the feathers of the 

 wings and tail, although elongated, possess 

 none of the beauty of those of the true 

 ostrich; they are only employed in the 

 manufacture of light dusting-brooms. It is 

 very abundant in the great plains of trop. 

 ical America, where it is pursued on horse- 

 back, and captured either by the lasso, or 

 by throwing at its legs an instrument form- 

 ed of two heavy balls or stones, attached 

 together by a leathern thong. Mr. Darwin, 

 who had frequent opportunities of observ- 

 ing these birds, says that they take the 

 water readily, and swim across broad and 

 rapid rivers, and even from island to island 

 in bays. 



They are said to be polygamous ; the 

 male bird prepares the nest, collects the 

 eggs, which are frequently laid by the fe- 

 males at random on the ground, and per- 

 forms all the duties of incubation. Mr. 

 Darwin confirms these observations, and 

 says that four or five females have been seen 

 to lay in the same nest, and that the male 

 when sitting lies so close that he himself nearly rode over one. At this time the males are said 

 sometimes to be very fierce, and they have been known to attack a man on horseback, trying to 

 kick and leap on him. Another species, the Patagonian Rhea or Petise, R. Darwinii, is found 

 in Southern Patagonia; it is of a dark, mottled color, and about half the size of the Rhea. 



Genus DROMAIUS : Dromaius. — This includes the Emeu of New Holland, B. Nova; Hollandice, 

 which is nearly as large as the African Ostrich, measuring from five to seven feet in height. It 

 has three toes on each foot, and these are furnished with nearly equal claws ; the head is covered 

 with feathers, but the throat is naked, and the plumage of the body closely resembles long hairs, 

 hanging down on each side of the body from a central line, ov parting. The neck is covered with 

 feathers. The birds are abundant in the southern parts of Australia ; but in the more populous 

 parts of the British colonies there, they are now extinct. They are much sought for, both by na- 



TIIE I»ATAGONIAN RHEA. 



