AMERICAN RHEA* 



437 



two feet and three quarters in length, furnished 

 with three toes, all placed forwards, and the rudi- 

 ment of a fourth behind. 



This bird appears to be most numerous in the 

 vicinity of the lake Nahuelguapi, in the valley 

 of the Andes : it is also abundant, according to 

 Faulkner, Wallis, and others, in Patagonia. It 

 lives on fruits, and like the Ostrich, devours any 

 thing offered to it : its favourite food is flies, 

 which it catches very nimbly : when attacked, it 

 defends itself by kicking with its feet, either behind 

 or before : the female is said to lay from forty to 

 sixty eggs, on th^ bare ground*; they contain 

 about two pounds of liquid each. When it calls 

 its young it gives a kind of whistle its feathers 

 are in great request by the Indians. 



* Probably this species, like the rest of the order^ is poly^ 

 gamous, and each female deposits a dozen or more eggs in the- 

 same place.. 



