Polyandry in the Rhea. 267


POLYANDRY IN THE RHEA.



It seems to me that the Rhea of South America (erron-

eously called the South American Ostrich, for it is not a true

Ostrich, but only allied to it) is polyandrous, that is that the

female • keeps company ' with more than one male for reproduc-

ing her kind, in contradistinction to birds that are polygamous ;

birds, that is, where one male has several wives. Until this year

I have only kept one pair of Rheas, so that it has been difficult,

indeed impossible, to come to any conclusion on the subject,

although even then during the past three or four years where a

female has had only one male to company with, there have been

signs of polyandry, for although the male was ever ready to in-

cubate the eggs laid by his mate, she would nearly always lay

some in different parts of the park as well as in the nest taken

possession of by the male, as if she expected other males to

appear on the scene and incubate her eggs.


This year however the evidence is stronger. Up till May

I had two females and one male. Both females laid and both

laid in the same nest, although one or two eggs were laid else-

where, and the male (a white one) duly sat on eleven of them.

So far one would say that it was a case not of polyandry but of

polygamy !


One must notice, in passing, that directly the male has

finally settled down on the complement of eggs, the females

wander away and leave him entirely to himself. After this white

male was incubating, I bought two other males. First of all a

fine grey bird of the normal type from Herr Hagenbeck, and

secondly another white male from Tring Park.


The Rheas wander everywhere, in the park and about the

water-meadows, crossing the streams which intersect these

meadows, and re-crossing.


The grey male when he arrived was placed in a large

wired-in enclosure at the top of the park near the house; the

two females which had already laid their eggs and had ceased

laying, were to be found down in the water-meadows perhaps

nearly half-a-mile distant from the new male. He immediately-

commenced booming and before many minutes had elapsed the



