The A merican O strich. 



RHEA AMERICANA. 



The Nandu differs from the os- 

 trich, proper, in having the head 

 and neck covered with feathers; the 

 feet furnished with three toes and 

 each toe armed with a claw; also, in 

 having no tail; and in having better 

 plumed and better developed wings, 

 terminated by a hooked spur. The 

 Nandu is considerably smaller than 

 the ostrich standing only about five 

 feet high. They are of a uniform 

 gray color, except in the back, which 

 has a brown tint. The female is 

 smaller and lighter colored than the 

 male. The feathers of the back and 

 rump, though elongated, possess none 

 of the beauty of the African ostrich, 

 and are but little esteemed as arti- 

 cles of dress and ornament, being 

 employed only in the manufacture 

 of light brushes for di'iving away 

 flies, or cleansing articles from dust. 

 This bird inhabits the great- grassy 

 plains of Buenos Ayres, and the 

 adjoining country, abounding on 

 the banks of the Rio de La Plata, 

 and its tributaries and as far south 

 as 42 degrees or 43 degrees. 



It is usually seen in small troups, 

 and runs with great celerity using 

 its wings as aids. Their food con- 

 sists mainly of grasses, roots, and 

 other vegetable substances, but they 

 will occasionally eat animal food, 

 coming down to the mud-banks of 

 the river to pick up the small fish, 

 which have been stranded on the 

 shallows. Darwin, who had frequent 

 opportunities of observing this bird, 

 has given an excellent account of 

 their habits. He says: "They 

 take to. the water readily, and swim 

 across broad and rapid rivers and 

 even from islands in the bays. They 

 swim slowly, with the greater part 

 of the body immersed and the neck 

 extended a little forward. On two 

 occasions I saw some ostriches 

 swimming across the Santa Cruz 



river, where it was 400 yards wide, 

 and the stream rapid." It is poly- 

 gamus; the male bird prepares the 

 nests, collects the eggs, (which are 

 frequently laid by the females at 

 random on the ground) and performs 

 all the duties of incubation. Darwin 

 says four or five females have been 

 known to lay in one nest, and the 

 male when sitting lies so close to 

 the gi'ound, that he himself nearly 

 rode over one. During incubation 

 they are very fierce, and have been 

 known to attack a man on horse- 

 back, trying to kick and leap upon 

 him. 



Though shy and wary, the nandu 

 is successfully hunted by the in- 

 dians, generally ' on horse-back. 



The stomach of the ostrich is 

 celebrated for its incredible power 

 of digestion. 'The abundance of 

 pepsin to which it owes this faculty 

 has created among the indians a 

 curious commercial fraud. They 

 dry it and sell it literally for its 

 weight in gold. It is used for the 

 purpose of restoring worn out stom- 

 achs. In the Argentine Republic 

 ostrich pepsin is prescribed by med- 

 ical men, and is known by the pub- 

 lic as pepsina nostra. "A good 

 wine is made by digesting the 

 stomachs in wine." 



The Nandu is capable of domes- 

 tication, and the flesh of the young 

 is not unpleasent. 



The Rhea Darwinii, a smaller and 

 more recently discovered species, 

 has light brown plumage each feath- 

 er tipped with white. It inhabits 

 Patagonia. 



A third species, Rhea machrorhy- 

 ncha, is distinguished by its large 

 bill. Selected. 



To each of the first five persons 

 sending us clubs of ten yearly sub- 

 scribers,' at 35 cents each, we will 

 present a collection of rare eggs, 

 amounting to, not less than ten dol- 

 lars. To the next rive we will give 

 five dollar collections. 



