294 CASSELL'S BOOK OF BIRDS. 



The American Ostrich rarges south as far as forty-two or forty-three degrees ; it is abundant on 

 the plains of La Plata, and, according to Azara, is found in Paraguay. Mr. Darwin saw it within the 

 first range of mountains on the Uspalluta Plain, at an elevation of six or seven thousand feet above 

 the sea ; but it does not cross the Cordilleras. At Bahia Blanca the latter observer repeatedly saw 

 three or four come down at low water to the extensive mud-banks, which are then dry, for the sake, as ■ 

 the Gauchos say, of catching small fish. Although this Ostrich is in its habits so shy, wary, and 

 solitar)', and although so fleet in its pace, it falls a prey without much difficulty to the Indian or 

 Gaucho, armed wilh the bolas. When several horsemen appear in a circle it becomes confounded, 

 and does not know which way to escape ; it prefers running against the wind, yet at the first start it 

 expands its wings like a vessel that makes all sail. On one fine hot day Mr. Darwin saw several of 

 these birds enter a bed of tall rushes, where they squatted concealed until closely approached. 



In Patagonia, at the Bay of San Bias, and at Port Valdes, Mr. King several times saw Nandus 

 swimming from island to island, a distance of about two hundred yards ; they ran into the water, both 

 when driven and of their own accord, and swam very slowly, with their necks extended a little forward, 

 only a small part of their bodies appearing above the water. Mr. Darwin likewise on two occasions 

 observed some of these Ostriches swimming across the Santa Cruz River, where it was about four 

 hundred yards wide and its course rapid. The note of the male is described as being deep-toned and 

 hissing, and so peculiar as rather to resemble the noise of some wild beast than the voice of any bird. 

 At Bahia Blanca, in the months of September and October, the eggs of the Nandu were found in 

 extraordinar)' numbers all over the country. They either lie scattered singly — in which case they are 

 never hatched and are called by the Spaniards hiiachos — or they are collected together into a 

 shallow excavation which forms the nest. Out of four nests which Mr. Darwin saw, three contained 

 twenty-two eggs each, and the fourth twenty-seven. In one day's hunting on horseback sixty-four 

 eggs were found ; forty-four of these were in two nests, and the remaining twenty were scattered 

 huachos. The Gauchos unanimously affirm — and there is no reason to doubt their statement — that 

 the male bird alone hatches the eggs, and for some time afterwards accompanies the young. The male 

 when on the nest lies very close, and may almost be ridden over. It is asserted that at such times 

 they are occasionally very fierce and even dangerous, and that they have been known to attack a man 

 on horseback by trying to kick and leap on him. There can be little doubt that several females 

 deposit their eggs in common ; indeed, the Gauchos, says Darwin, " unanimously assert that four or 

 five have been watched and actually seen to go, in the middle of the day, one after another to the 

 same nest." 



A family party of Nandus generally consists of a male and from five to seven females, who seem 

 to have possession of a space of ground, from which all intruders in the shape of rivals are resolutely 

 excluded ; but when the breeding season is over, several of these families associate together, and it is 

 not an uncommon occurrence to see sixty of them forming one large flock, but they seldom wander very 

 far from their native place. In the autumn they seem to prefer the neighbourhood of streams and 

 marshy ground, where they find fruit and berries, or they wander among the thistles first introduced 

 by the Spaniards, but now extending over thousands of miles of fertile soil ; while in the winter time 

 they may be seen associating with cattle, sharing with them the long fine grass. 



In swiftness the Nandu is but little behind its African representative. It can easily outrun and 

 tire the best horse, not only by the swiftness of its pace, but by the wonderful skill with which it makes 

 all sorts of windings and short cuts. The length of its usual step is stated by Bocking to be from twenty 

 to four-and-twenty inches. When it raises its outstretched wings but still goes leisurely along, its stride 

 is about three feet and a half; but if pursued and going at full speed each step covers at least five feet, 

 and the movements of its legs are so rapid that it is impossible to count its footsteps. Often during 



