OSTRICHES. 39 



down the swiftest birds within two miles at farthest. The Indians use the 'bolas' 

 with much skill, the one used for ostriches consisting of two half-pound leaden balls, 

 connected by eight feet of twisted rawhide twine. Whirling this about the head and 

 ' letting fly ' at the running bird, they often entangle his legs at a distance of thirty to 

 fifty yards, and I was told that it was frequently done at one hundred. Single hunters 

 stalk ostriches sometimes in the following way: Getting to windward of the bird, the 

 latter soon scents him and lies down, only sticking up his head above the grass. The 

 hunter may then creep directly up within shot, if the grass be long enough to shelter 

 him, and the bird is shot through neck or head before he rises." 



On two occasions, Mr. Darwin witnessed the Rhea crossing the Santa Cruz river, 

 where its course was about four hundred yards wide, and the stream rapid. They 

 made but slow progress, their necks were extended slightly forward, but little of the 

 body appeared above water. The statement as regards the swimming capacities of 

 the bird in question has been corroborated by Mr. Cunningham. 



The feathers are of little value compared with those of the African ostrich, and 

 are mainly used for rugs, dusters, brooms, etc. ; the yield of a Rhea will average about 

 three pounds, and the value is from one to two dollars per pound on the spot. 



The hen lays from ten to twenty-three eggs in the shallow excavation formed by the 

 male in the ground, and arranged by him with a few leaves and grasses for a nest, but 

 numerous eggs are also dropped here and there over the plains. That these are des- 

 tined for food for the young chick is a mere myth. Mr. Darwin's experience was to 

 the following effect : At Bahia Blanca, in the months of October and September, an 

 extraordinary number of eggs were found all over the country. The eggs either lie 

 scattered about, or are collected together in a shallow excavation or nest ; in the for- 

 mer case they are never hatched, and are termed by the Spaniards Haachos. The 

 Gauchos unanimously affirmed, and later experience with birds in captivity corrobo- 

 rates it, that the male bird alone hatches the eggs, and for some time afterwards 

 accompanies the young. Mr. Darwin also states that the cock bird sits so closely that 

 he has almost ridden over one on the nest. 



Before closing the present account we shall reproduce the yarn told Mr. Barrows 

 by one of the natives, who thought he had found an explanation of the many eggs 

 spread over the plains. When an ostrich has built a nest and laid the full number of 

 eggs, he argued, she is naturally anxious to be able to find the nest again after having 

 wandered away to any distance. This she manages by simply laying eggs at intervals 

 of half a mile or so over the adjacent coimtry, placing each egg with its smaller end 

 pointing directly towards the nest ! Ben trovato !! 



The " Avestruz Petise," as Rh. darwinii is called by the Gauchos, is smaller, and 

 is said not to expand its wings when running at full speed, as does the common species. 

 It inhabits Patagonia, from Magellan's Strait to the Rio Negro. 



Both as regards geographical distribution and anatomical peculiarities, the 

 cassowaries and emus, the superfamily CASUAROIDE^, hold a somewhat isolated 

 position in the present geological period. Most significant, perhaps, is the extreme re- 

 duction of the fore-extremities, which could hardly become smaller without disappear- 

 ing altogether externally ; the hand has, moreover, only one claw-bearing finger. They 

 are furthermore distinguished from the two foregoing groups iii that neither pubes 

 nor ischia unite into a ventral symphysis. The ambiens muscle is absent, though pres- 

 ent in the other Dromoeognathae, and the feathers are provided with aftershafts, con- 

 trary to what is the case in /Struthio and Rhea. Both carotids are developed. 



