V THE AVESTRUZ PETISE 97 



surprise, that they were very little less than those of the Rhea 

 but of a slightly different form, and with a tinge of pale blue. 

 This species occurs most rarely on the plains bordering the 

 Rio Negro ; but about a degree and a half farther south they 

 are tolerably abundant. When at Port Desire, in Patagonia 

 (lat. 48°), Mr. Martens shot an ostrich ; and I looked at it, 

 forgetting at the moment, in the most unaccountable manner, the 

 whole subject of the Petises, and thought it was a not full-grown 

 bird of the common sort. It was cooked and eaten before my 

 memory returned. Fortunately the head, neck, legs, wings, 

 many of the larger feathers, and a large part of the skin, had 

 been preserved ; and from these a very nearly perfect specimen 

 has been put together, and is now exhibited in the museum of 

 the Zoological Society. Mr. Gould, in describing this new 

 species, has done me the honour of calling it after my name. 



Among the Patagonian Indians in the Strait of Magellan, 

 we found a half Indian, who had lived some years with the 

 tribe, but had been born in the northern provinces. I asked 

 him if he had ever heard of the Avestruz Petise. He answered 

 by saying, " Why, there are none others in these southern 

 countries." He informed me that the number of eggs in the 

 nest of the petise is considerably less than in that of the other 

 kind, namely, not more than fifteen on an average ; but he 

 asserted that more than one female deposited them. At Santa 

 Cruz we saw several of these birds. They were excessively 

 wary : I think they could see a person approaching when too 

 far off to be distinguished themselves. In ascending the river 

 few were seen ; but in our quiet and rapid descent many, in 

 pairs and by fours or fives, were observed. It was remarked 

 that this bird did not expand its wings, when first starting at full 

 speed, after the manner of the northern kind. In conclusion I 

 may observe that the Struthio rhea inhabits the country of La 

 Plata as far as a little south of the Rio Negro in lat. 41°, and 

 that the Struthio Darwinii takes its place in Southern Patagonia ; 

 the part about the Rio Negro being neutral territory. M. A. 

 d'Orbigny,^ when at the Rio Negro, made great exertions to 



1 When at the Rio Negro, we heard much of the indefatigable labours of this 

 naturalist. M. Alcide d'Orbigny, during the years 1825 to 1833, traversed several large 

 portions of South America, and has made a collection, and is now publishing the 

 results on a scale of magnificence, which at once places himself in the list of American 

 travellers second only to Humboldt. 



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