472 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY 



the exciting hunts for these great birds of the plains, and how 

 the lasso and bolas are used in their capture by the horsemen 

 pursuing them. With the wind in their favor, however, and set- 

 ting their wings as sails, the Nandu in the race soon leaves a 

 horseman astern. Consequently the huntsmen are obliged to 

 partially surround them, several riders usually forming the hunt- 

 ing party. These birds, although slow, are by no means bad 

 swimmers, and take to the water most readily. Frequently, too, 

 they will feed upon small fish, though roots and grass compose 

 their ordinary diet. Darwin noticed that they would squat down 

 and conceal themselves in the tall rushes of the river-banks and 

 remain in such a situation until closely approached by the one 

 who observed them; and this eminent writer says the "inhabit- 

 ants of the country readily distinguish, even at a distance, the 

 cock bird from the hen. The former is larger and darker colored, 

 and has a bigger head. The ostrich, I believe the cock, emits a 

 singular, deep-toned, hissing note. When first I heard it, stand- 

 ing in the midst of some sand-hillocks, I thought it was made by 

 some wild beast, for it is a sound that one cannot tell whence it 

 comes, or from how far distant." 



In a foot note to these remarks he adds, " A Gaucho assured 

 me that he had once seen a snow- white or albino variety, and that 

 it was a most beautiful bird." A nest of this species is a mere 

 shallow excavation, containing on the average from twenty to 

 thirty eggs; the male alone incubates and cares for the brood. 

 Many additional eggs are dropped by the hen over the pampas 

 that are never hatched. The cock is a close sitter, allowing him- 

 self almost to be ridden over before taking himself off; several 

 hens are said to lay in the same nest, and as many as fifty eggs 

 have been found in one. Azara says eighty. Cock birds are dan- 

 gerous when in charge of the brood, and will even attempt to kick 

 a man off a horse. 



Among British ornithologists the best published accounts of 

 the three species of Khea are given by Darwin, Sclater, Newton, 

 Harting, Forbes, and Cunningham. Sir Eichard Owen, Prof. 

 Huxley, and Dr. Gadow have written much upon their anatomy; 

 while travelers of other nationalities, as Azara, Prince Max of 

 Weid, and Prof. Burmeister, have left us many interesting de- 

 scriptions of their habits and general natural history. 



THE END. 



