OF THE UNITED STATES 



471 



ciety of zebras and antelopes. As for R. macrorhyncha, it was 

 found by Forbes (Ibis, 1881, pp. 360, 361) to inhabit the dry and 

 open t sertoes ' of northeastern Brazil, a discovery the more in- 

 teresting since it was in that part of the country that Marcgrave 

 and Piso became acquainted with a bird of this kind, though the 

 existence of any species of Rhea in the district had been long- 

 overlooked by or unknown to succeeding travelers." (Part III., 

 p. 788.) 



The Nandu is not nearly so big as an African ostrich, and it, 

 among numerous other characters, is further distinguished from 



FIG. 130. RHEA AMERICANA. 



Collection of the Leydeu Museum in Holland. Mounted by H. H. ter Meer, Sr. 



it by the structure of its plumage, the fact that it has three toes 

 upon each foot instead of only two, and by the head being nearly 

 completely feathered. Its plumes have none of the beauty of 

 those of the true ostrich, which is doubtless a very fortunate cir- 

 cumstance for the bird, as man can only find use for them in the 

 manufacture of light dusting-brooms. Although not of recent 

 date, some of the best natural history accounts of the Nandu are 

 to be found in Mr. Darwin's famous work, Tlie Voyage of tlte 

 Beagle, while not a few other authors have given descriptions of 



