70 



Tim CONDOR 



Vol,. X 



the summer time in Patagonia and in the fall is fat and well prepared to weather 

 the usually moderate winter that prevails there. 



The family life of the rhea is not, like that of many birds, an open book to all 

 who care to observe them. Their natural shyness and the barrenness of the country 

 in which they live afford but few advantages for observation. The comparison of 

 many notes made at various times by numerous careful observers has given us our 

 most reliable data. This snatching little pieces here and there and putting them 

 together has built up a life-history of the largest of living American birds. 

 The tales of the gauchos in regard to the rhea as well as other animals, while enter- 

 taining and true in many details, border on the fanciful yarns of the dreaded nature 

 fakirs and they never hesitate to supply essential points if their own experience has 

 not covered the gaps ! 



The rhea is said to be a polygamous bird, and the male incubates the eggs of 

 several females, the process requiring six weeks. The females also lay many eggs 

 in the camp or prairie to go unincubated. Whether she deposits eggs in more than 



A WOUNDED Rliea darzcini 



one nest is not known, tho it seems possible, for they wander over much ground. 

 The hens are not rapid layers. A bird in captivity is known to have dropped one egg 

 every three days for a period of seven weeks. The size too of the clutch varies widely; 

 as few as a dozen and as many as half a gross have been found in a single nest. In 

 these larger nests the difference in the ages of the eggs is very noticeable. The 

 fresh eggs have a beautiful greenish tinge which fades rapidly during incubation or 

 exposure on the pampa. It is claimed by some observers that the females assist the 

 males in the incubation, but it seems that this is only for a small part of the time. 

 The size of the nest may depend largelj' on the number of the females, but the 

 diameter of the nest is almost a constant factor, the variation being in the depth, 

 for eggs are sometimes found as much as a foot or more below the upper layer 

 buried in debris and dirt. A gaucho told me that these eggs were buried so that 

 the old birds could break them on the ground when the young were hatched to 

 draw flies for their first food. I think it was just the result of overcrowding, and 

 not necessarily premeditated. 



