134 NATURAIi HISTORY OF 



are invariably swarming with minute and very active Ano- 

 plura. 



On our way back to camp, which we reached in the even- 

 ing, pretty well tired out, an addled egg of a Bhea was picked 

 up. Mr. Darwin has remarked, in his account of the habits 

 of the American ostrich, that " the eggs lie either scattered or 

 single, in which case they are never hatched, and are called 

 by the Spaniard huachos ; or they are collected together into 

 a shallow excavation, which forms the nest." These single 

 eggs we often met with on subsequent occasions, and once or 

 twice we found the remnants of a nest. While on this sub- 

 ject, I may remark, that though on several occasions I had an 

 opportunity of examining specimens oiEheas which had been 

 killed, I never met with one of the Rhea Darivinii in Pata- 

 gonia, although I frequently picked up its feathers on the 

 plains. On the morning of the 30th, as the gale still con- 

 tinued undiminished in force, and our stock of water was 

 waxing low, there being none to be procured in the neighbour- 

 hood of our camp, we set forth after breakfast, accompanied 

 by two of the boat's crew, carrying barracoes slung on poles, 

 and walked to the small lake close to which we had landed 

 on the first day of our excursion. In the course of our route 

 many guanacos and several gray foxes were seen, but none 

 obtained. On the beach at one place, we observed the largest 

 number of steamer-ducks ever noticed by us during the whole 

 time we spent in the Strait. There were literally hundreds, 

 and they produced a most singular spectacle as they ran into 

 the water and paddled off. The wind fell considerably during 

 the evening, so that we had a pleasant walk back to the tents, 

 refreshing ourselves on the way with the fruit of the Berheris 

 dulcis. By 10 P.M. it was nearly calm, and rain set in, lasting 

 throughout the greater part of the night. Next morning 



