CLASS II. AVES: OEDER 6. CUESORES. 
261 
day, and the male takes his turn at night, when his superior strength is required to protect the 
eggs or the newly-fledged young from the jackalls, tiger-cats, and other enemies. Some of these 
animals, it is said, are not unfr-equently found lying dead near the nest, destroyed by a stroke from 
the foot of this powerful bird. The eggs weigh about three pounds, and are regarded as a great 
delicacy. The cry of the ostrich, at a distance, sounds like the voice of a lion, and is frequently 
mistaken for it. When pursued it runs with such rapidity as speedily to outstrip the swiftest 
horse, and the hunters, therefore, either relieve one another in the chase, or bewilder the bird by 
approaching it in several directions; but the pursuit is not always unattended with danger, as 
the ostrich sometimes attacks its enemies, striking out with its feet with great force. It will carry 
a man on its back without much diminution of speed. In captivity it often becomes tame and 
gentle with those to whom it is accustomed, but generally exhibits more or less enmity toward 
strangers, whom it will endeavor to knock down and trample underfoot. 
Genus RHEA : Rhea. — This includes the American Ostrich, R. Americana, called also 
Nandou or Rhea : it is scarcely more than 
half the size of the African species, from 
which it also diff"ers in having the head 
covered with feathers, and the feet fur- 
nished with three toes. It is of a nearly 
uniform gray tint, and the feathers of the 
wings and tail, although elongated, possess 
none of the beauty of those of the true 
ostrich ; they are only employed in the 
manufacture of light dusting-brooms. It is 
ver)^ abundant in the great plains of trop. 
ical America, where it is pursued on horse- 
back, and captured either by the lasso, or 
by throwing at its legs an instrument form, 
ed of two heavy balls or stones, attached 
together by a leathern thong. Mr. Darwin, 
who had frequent opportunities of observ- 
ing these birds, says that they take the 
water readily, and swim across broad and 
rapid rivers, and even from island to island 
in bays. 
They are said to be polygamous ; the 
male bird prepares the nest, collects the 
eggs, which are frequently laid by the fe- 
males at random on the ground, and per- 
forms all the duties of incubation. Mr. 
Darwin confirms these observations, and 
says that four or five females have been seen 
to lay in the same nest, and that the male 
when sitting lies so close that he himself nearly rode over one. At this time the males are said 
sometimes to be very fierce, and they have been known to attack a man on horseback, trying to 
kick and leap on him. Another species, the Patagonian Rhea or Petise, R. Darwinii, is found 
in Southern Patagonia ; it is of a dark, mottled color, and about half the size of the Rhea. 
Genus DROMAIUS : Dromaius. — This includes the Emeu of New Holland, D. Novm Hollandim^ 
which is nearly as large as the African Ostrich, measuinng from five to seven feet in height. It 
has three toes on each foot, and these are furnished with nearly equal claws ; the head is covered 
with feathers, but the throat is naked, and the plumage of the body closely resembles long hairs, 
hanging down on each side of the body from a central line, or ■parting.. The neck is covered with 
feathers. The birds are abundant in the southern parts of Australia ; but in the more populous 
parts of the British colonies there, they are now extinct. They are much sought for, both by na- 
THE PATAGONIAN RHEA. 
