26 
The N alter alist in La Plata. 
The last fio’iire to be introduced into this sketch 
o 
— which is not a catalogue — is that of the Rhea. 
Gljptodon, Toxodon, Mylodon, Megatherium, have- 
passed away, leaving no descendants, and only pigmy 
representatives if any ; but among the feathered 
inhabitants of the pampa the grand archaic ostrich 
of America survives from a time when there were 
also giants among the avians. Vain as such efforts 
usually are, one cannot help trying to imagine some- 
thing of the past history of this majestic bird, before 
man came to lead the long chase now about to end 
so mournfully. Its fleetness, great staying powers, 
and beautiful strategy when hunted, make it seem 
probable that it was not without pursuers, other 
than the felines, among its ancient enemies, long- 
winded and tenacious of their quarry ; and these 
were perhaps of a type still represented by the 
wolf or hound-like aguara and aguara-guazii. It 
might be supposed that when almost all the larger 
forms, both mammal and bird, were overtaken by 
destruction, and when the existing rhea was on the 
verge of extinction, these long-legged swift canines 
changed their habits and lost their bold spirit, 
degenerating at last into hunters of small birds and 
mammals, on which they are said to live. 
The rhea possesses a unique habit, which is a 
puzzle to us, although it probably once had some 
significance — namely, that of running, when hunted, 
with one wing raised vertically, like a great sail — a 
veritable ship of the wilderness.” In every way 
it is adapted to the conditions of the pampas in a 
far greater degree than other pampean birds, only 
excepting the rufous and spotted tinamous. Its 
