SHORT-WINGED CURSORIAL BIRDS. 295 



the chase it will suddenly dart off from its direct course, with one wing elevated and the other depressed, 

 at an angle of twenty-five or thirty degrees, and then with fierce speed resume its former direction, 

 springing over ditches or fissures twenty feet across with the utmost ease ; but it carefully avoids steep 

 ascents, as over such it makes its way with difficulty. 



During the rainy season these birds live principally upon clover, combined with such insects as 

 happen to fall in their way. At a later period they frequent the plains where cattle graze, and feed 

 almost exclusively upon grass ; they show, nevertheless, a decided preference for the more nutritious 

 vegetables imported from Europe, and often do considerable damage in the kitchen gardens of the 

 settlers. Their presence, however, is by no means devoid of utility. One of their favourite articles of 

 food consists of the unripe seeds of a plant somewhat resembling the hurdock, which, cuing to its 

 abundance in some localities, is a serious detriment to the cattle-breeder, seeing that the burrs which 

 it produces get entangled in the manes and tails of horses, or the fleeces of sheep, in which latter 

 case they render the wool absolutely useless, by causing it to become as it were felted into inextricable 

 knots and tangles, and indeed not unfrequently leading to the death of the animal, by producing sores 

 that soon swarm with maggots, and occasion intolerable irritation. Whoever has examined the 

 contents of the stomach of a Nandu, in the month of December, will have some idea of the quantity 

 of these seeds that are thus devoured, and acknowledge t'liat, were it only on account of the services 

 thus rendered to the farmer, the Nandus deserve all the protection which they already enjoy at the 

 hands of intelligent cattle-breeders. At all times of the year, and at all ages, they feed indiscriminately 

 on a great variety of insects, and as the Guachos assert, also upon snakes and other reptiles. Like 

 our Barn-door Fowls, they swallow quantities of small stones to facilitate the process of digestion. 

 They drink but seldom, the moisture derived from dew and rain appearing to satisfy their ordinary 

 wants ; nevertheless, when they come to a pond, they may be seen to indulge in a draught, very much 

 after the manner of chickens, scooping up the water wth their beaks, and then holding their necks 

 outstretched, and thus allowing it to trickle down their throats. 



In the beginning of spring, which in the southern hemisphere is about the month of October, 

 those males which have attained the age of two years, collect around them a seraglio of hen-birds, 

 varying in number from three to seven or more, and immediately begin to drive all rivals from their 

 vicinity, by formidable blows inflicted with their beak and wings. They then at once begin their 

 courtship, by performing, apparently for the gratification of their mates, a remarkable sort of dance ; 

 with wings outspread and trailing upon the ground, they stalk hither and thither, or suddenly breaking 

 into a run, dart forward with great speed, beating the air with their wings, and then checking their 

 career, strut about, bowing to the female with ludicrous assumption of dignity, and recommence the 

 same performance. During this exhibition the male invariably gives utterance to a loud bellowing 

 noise, and manifests every indication of being in a state of great excitement. When in their native 

 wilds, the courage and pugnacity which they display at this season is of course expended on their 

 rivals, but when in captivity their anger seems to extend to intruders of every description. Visitors 

 and even their keepers must beware of tlie formidable blows inflicted with their hard beaks, or 

 sometimes with their feet, as they kick much in the same manner as the African Ostrich. For a ver)' 

 interesting account of the proceedings of these birds during incubation we are indebted to Bodinus. 

 In the case of a pair which bred in the Zoological Gardens of Cologne, he obsei'\'ed that the male, 

 upon whom alone devolves the duty of preparing a nest, did so by continually moving about while 

 sitting in a particular spot, until at length, without any scratching or removal of the soil, a cavity was 

 formed in which the nest, consisting of a little dried grass, roughly arranged, was placed. The female 

 takes no share whatever in the preparation of the nest. In the Pampas, before brooding time, which 

 begins ^here about the middle of December, solitary eggs, called by the natives " foundlings," are 



