Aug. 1833. TWO KINDS OF OSTRICH. 



109 



been preserved. From these a very nearly perfect specimen 

 has been put together^ and is now exhibited in the museum 

 of the Zoological Society. Mr. Gould^ who in describing 

 this new species did me the honour of calling it after my 

 name^ states^ that besides the smaller size and diiferent 

 colour of the plumage^, the beak is of considerably less pro- 

 portional dimensions than in the common Rhea ; that the 

 tarsi are covered with differently-shaped scales^ and that they 

 are feathered six inches beneath the knee. In this latter 

 respect^ and in the broader feathers of the wing^ this bird 

 perhaps shows more affinity to the gallinaceous family than 

 any other of the Struthionidee. 



Among the Patagonian Indians in the Strait of Magellan^, 

 we found a half Indian^ who had lived some years with the 

 tribcj, but had been born in the northern provinces. I asked 

 him if he had ever heard of the Avestruz Petise ? He 

 answered by sayings "Why there are none others in these 

 southern countries.^^ He informed me that the number of 

 eggs in the nest of the petise is considerably less than with 

 the other kind^ namely, not more than fifteen on an average ; 

 but he asserted that more than one female deposited them. 

 At Santa Cruz we saw several of these birds. They were 

 excessively wary : I think they could see a person approach- 

 ing when he was so far off as not to distinguish the ostrich. 

 In ascending the river few were seen ; but in our quiet and 

 rapid descent, many, in pairs and by fours or fives, were ob- 

 served. It was remarked, and I think with truth, that this 

 bird did not expand its wings, when first starting at full 

 speed, after the manner of the northern kind. The fact of 

 these ostriches swimming across the river has been men- 

 tioned. In conclusion, I may repeat that the Struthio Rhea 

 inhabits the country of La Plata as far as a little south of the 

 Rio Negro, in lat. 41°, and that the petise takes its place in 

 Southern Patagonia; the part about the Rio Negro being 

 neutral territory. Wallis saw ostriches at Batchelor^s river 

 (lat. 53° 54'), in the Strait of Magellan, which must be the 

 extreme southern possible range of the petise. M. D'Or- 



