32 NEORNITHES RATITAE chap. 



— apparently to aid progress — ^when fresh exertions are neces- 

 sary. Mr. Hudson tells us ^ that Darwin's Ehea " carries its neck 

 stretched forward, which makes it seem lower in stature than the 

 allied species." The diet consists chiefly of grass, roots, and 

 seeds, but berries of Umjietrum are a favourite food, and lizards, 

 insects, worms, and molluscs are said to be eaten, together with 

 hard substances to promote digestion. Nandus take readily to 

 the water, and can swim across a river several hundred yards 

 wide, the body being hardly visible. In spring the cock utters 

 a deep, resonant, booming noise, a loud hiss being not micommonly 

 heard also ; vrhile at that season the rival males attack each 

 other viciously with their beaks, trampling down the ground in 

 their passion, but not generally using their feet, as they do when 

 wounded. The hens secured by each of the cocks lay together in 

 a mere depression in the soil with very little, if any, lining ; the 

 eggs numbering from twenty to thirty, or exceptionally more, 

 besides those scattered about outside the nest. Here again Mr. 

 Hudson is our authority for stating ^ that the eggs of B. americana 

 are golden yellow when fresh, those of R. danuini deep rich green ; 

 both however fade quickly to a whitish colour. The male incubates 

 very closely for about six weeks, often taking up his position, as 

 the Ostrich does, before the final egg is laid ; he afterwards 

 attends upon the young, and charges intruders who seem 

 dangerous, with outstretched wings and beak. Eheas may be 

 captured by riding after them in a semicircle, which closes upon 

 them as they go, or by means of long-winded hounds ; but the 

 most usual method is that of hurling the " bolas " or leaden balls 

 connected by leather thongs, which wind around the bird's neck 

 or legs, and thereby hamper its movements or throw it down. 

 The feathers, though inferior to Ostrich plumes, are much used 

 for brooms and the like, and are said to be called " Vautour " in 

 the trade. The flesh is very poor. These birds breed both 

 on the Continent and in Britain. 



III. MEGISTANES. 



The Megistanes comprise the Oasuariidae or Cassowaries, 

 and the Bromaeidae or Emeus, the following being the chief 

 peculiarities of the group. The wings are quite rudimentary; 



1 Argentine Ornithology, ii. 1889, p. 220. ^ Op. cit. m. 218 220. 



