232 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



licence to kill, which every one possesses, has been 

 exercised with such zeal and fury that in a very few 

 more years the noblest Avian type of the great bird- 

 continent will be as unknown on the earth as the 

 Moa and the Mpyornis, 



The Rhea lives in bands of from three or four to 

 twenty or thirty individuals. Where they are not 

 persecuted they show no fear of man, and come about 

 the houses, and are as familiar and tame as domestic 

 animals. Sometimes they become too familiar. At 

 one estancia I remember an old cock bird that con- 

 stantly came alone to feed near the gate, which had 

 so great an animosity against the human figure in 

 petticoats that the women of the house could not go 

 out on foot or horseback without a man to defend 

 them from its attacks. When the young are taken 

 from the parent bird they become, as Azara truly 

 says, ** domestic from the first day," and will follow 

 their owner about like a dog. It is this natural tame- 

 ness, together with the majesty and quaint grace of 

 its antique form, which makes the destruction of 

 the Rhea so painful to think of. 



When persecuted, Rheas soon acquire a wary 

 habit, and escape by running almost before the 

 enemy has caught a sight of them ; or else crouch 

 down to conceal themselves in the long grass ; and 

 it then becomes difficult to find them, as they lie 

 close, and will not rise until almost trodden on. Their 

 speed and endurance are so great that, with a fair 

 start, it is almost impossible for the hunter to over- 

 take them, however well mounted. When the bird 



