V 
THE AVESTRUZ PETISE 
97 
surprise, that they were very little less than those of the Rhea 
but of a slightly different form, and with a tinge of pale blue. 
This species occurs most rarely on the plains bordering the 
Rio Negro ; but about a degree and a half farther south they 
are tolerably abundant. When at Port Desire, in Patagonia 
(lat. 48°), Mr. Martens shot an ostrich ; and I looked at it, 
forgetting at the moment, in the most unaccountable manner, the 
whole subject of the Petises, and thought it was a not full-grown 
bird of the common sort. It was cooked and eaten before my 
memory returned. Fortunately the head, neck, legs, wings, 
many of the larger feathers, and a large part of the skin, had 
been preserved ; and from these a very nearly perfect specimen 
has been put together, and is now exhibited in the museum of 
the Zoological Society. Mr. Gould, in describing this new 
species, has done me the honour of calling it after my name. 
Among the Patagonian Indians in the Strait of Magellan, 
we found a half Indian, who had lived some years with the 
tribe, but had been born in the northern provinces. I asked 
him if he had ever heard of the Avestruz Petise. He answered 
by saying, “ 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 in that of 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 approaching when too 
far off to be distinguished themselves. In ascending the river 
few were seen ; but in our quiet and rapid descent many, in 
pairs and by fours or fives, were observed. It was remarked 
that this bird did not expand its wings, when first starting at full 
speed, after the manner of the northern kind. In conclusion I 
may observe that the Struthio rhea inhabits the country of La 
Plata as far as a little south of the Rio Negro in lat. 41 0 , and 
that the Struthio Darwinii takes its place in Southern Patagonia ; 
the part about the Rio Negro being neutral territory. M. A. 
d’Orbigny, 1 when at the Rio Negro, made great exertions to 
1 When at the Rio Negro, we heard much of the indefatigable labours of this 
naturalist. M. Alcide d’Orbigny, during the years 1825 to 1833, traversed several large 
portions of South America, and has made a collection, and is now publishing the 
results on a scale of magnificence, which at once places himself in the list of American 
travellers second only to Humboldt. 
H 
