lamed, ànd' many óf tlie^ country peoplé have domes- 

 ticated it. 



The cheugue, or Anïèrican ostrich (strutMo ' réa) 

 is principally found in the environs of the celeBi^átefd 

 lake of Nah^uëlguàpi, in the vàllèys of the Andes. 

 In hèïghf it is nearly equal to a nian ; its neck is twb 

 .'feet' eight inches long, 'and its legs of the sknie 

 ierigtli , its head sniall and round, and covered with 

 fbàthers ; its eyes arid eyelids àre black, krid fur- 

 nished with eyébróWs ; 4ts bill ' is short and broad 

 like that of the duck, arid %e febt have three tods 

 entirely separate before, and the vestige of a fourth 

 behind ; its tail is córríposéd bf several short fèathers 

 of an equal length, which gróW bût of the riimp. Its 

 wings are eight feet'iri length frotti their extrenlitiesy 

 tut riot calculated for' flight, owilig'to the great flexi- 

 *t)ility arid weakness of the feathers. The plumage of 

 the back and wings is of a dark grey, but tliat bf 

 the cither parts bi* the body is white. Atnbng these 

 birds are' found some that are entirely white, and 

 others that are black, but I coiisider them mei^ely as 

 varieties. 



The cheuque has riot, like the African ostrich^ a 

 ^ Korny substance " upon its Wings, rior callosities on 

 the stemiim, but it is qüite as voracious, and swal- 

 lows whatever is offered it, even iron. Its favourite 

 food is flies, which it catches with much dexterity. 

 It has rió deferice but its feet,, which it employs 

 against those who riiolest it. Its whistle, when it 

 ¿alls its young, reseriibles that of a man. It lays 

 'from forty to sixty eggs in a careless mariner upon 

 the grbimd; they are well tasted, and so large that 



