COMMON RHEA 235 



almost exterminated wherever the nature of the 

 country admits of their being chased. When on the 

 Rio Negro I was so anxious to obtain specimens of 

 this Rhea that I engaged several Indians by the offer 

 of a liberal reward to hunt for me, but they failed 

 to capture a single adult bird. I can only set down 

 here the most interesting facts I was able to collect 

 concerning its habits, which are very imperfectly 

 known. 



When pursued it frequently attempts to elude the 

 sight by suddenly squatting down amongst the 

 bushes, which have a grey foliage to which the colour 

 of its plumage closely assimilates. When hard pressed 

 it possesses the same habit as the Common Rhea of 

 raising the wings alternately and holding them up 

 vertically : and also doubles suddenly like that 

 species. Its speed is greater than that of the Common 

 Rhea, but it is sooner exhausted. In running it 

 carries its head stretched forward almost horizon- 

 tally, which makes it seem lower in stature than the 

 allied species — whence the vernacular name of " Short 

 Ostrich." It is found in flocks of from three or four 

 to thirty or more individuals. It begins to lay at the 

 end of July, that is, a month before the Rhea ameri- 

 cana. Several females lay in one nest, which is merely 

 a slight depression lined with a little dry rubbish ; 

 as many as fifty eggs are sometimes found in one 

 nest. A great many wasted or huacho eggs, as they 

 are called, are also found at a distance from the nest. 

 I examined a number of eggs brought in by the 

 hunters, and found them vary greatly in shape, size. 



