(DARWIN'S RHEA.)
+Rhea darwini+, _Darwin, Zool. Voy. 'Beagle,'_ iii. p. 123, pl.
xlvii.; _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 534; _Sclater, Trans. Zool.
Soc._ iv. p. 357, pl. lxx.; _Gadow, P. Z. S._ 1885, p. 308.
+Pterocnemis darwini+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 154.
_Description._--Above red or buff-brown, most of the feathers of
the back with white shaft-stripes and wide white margins: beneath,
throat and neck buff-brown; rest of under surface whitish; front of
tarsus covered on the upper part by small reticulate scutes, on the
lower part by transverse scutes: whole length about 36·0 inches,
tarsus 11·0; tarsus partly feathered.
[Illustration: Head of _Rhea darwini_. (P. Z. S. 1860, p. 209.)]
_Hab._ Patagonia south of the Rio Negro.
Darwin's Rhea inhabits Patagonia from the Straits of Magellan to the
Rio Negro, and is also met with occasionally north of that river. The
Indians call it "Molú Chueké"--short or dwarf Chueké; its Spanish name
is "_Avestruz petizo_." They were formerly very abundant along the Rio
Negro; unhappily, some years ago their feathers commanded a very high
price; Gauchos and Indians found that hunting the Ostrich was their most
lucrative employment; consequently these noble birds were slaughtered
in such numbers that they have been almost exterminated wherever the
nature of the country admits of their being chased. When on the Rio
Negro in 1871 I was so anxious to obtain specimens of this Rhea that I
engaged several Indians by the offer of a liberal reward to hunt for me,
but they failed to capture a single adult bird. I can only set down here
the most interesting facts I was able to collect concerning its habits,
which are very imperfectly known.
When pursued it frequently attempts to elude the sight by suddenly
squatting down amongst the bushes, which have a grey foliage, to which
the colour of its plumage closely assimilates. When hard pressed it
possesses the same habit as the Common Rhea of raising the wings
alternately and holding them up vertically; and also doubles suddenly
like that species. Its speed is greater than that of the Common Rhea,
but it is sooner exhausted. In running it carries its neck stretched
forward almost horizontally, which makes it seem lower in stature than
the allied species,--hence the vernacular name of "short Ostrich." It
is found in flocks of from three or four to thirty or more individuals.
It begins to lay at the end of July, that is a month before the _Rhea
americana_. Several females lay in one nest, which is merely a slight
depression lined with a little dry rubbish; as many as fifty eggs are
sometimes found in one nest. A great many wasted or _huacho_ eggs, as
they are called, are also found at a distance from the nest. I examined
a number of eggs brought in by the hunters, and found them vary greatly
in shape, size, and colour. The average size of the eggs was the same as
those of the Common Rhea; in shape they were more or less elliptical,
scarcely any two being precisely alike. The shell has a fine polish, and
when newly laid the colour is deep rich green. They soon fade, however,
and the side exposed to the sun first assumes a dull mottled green; then
this colour fades to yellowish, and again to pale stone-blue, becoming
at last almost white. The comparative age of each egg in the nest may
be known by the colour of the shell. The male incubates and rears the
young; and the procreant habits seem altogether like those of _Rhea
americana_.
The young are hatched with the legs feathered to the toes; these
leg-feathers are not shed, but are gradually worn off as the bird grows
old by continual friction against the stiff scrubby vegetation. In
adults usually a few scattered feathers remain, often worn down to mere
stumps; but the hunters told me that old birds are sometimes taken with
the legs entirely feathered, and that these birds frequent plains where
there is very little scrub. The plumage of the young is dusky grey,
without white and black feathers. When a year old they acquire by
moulting the mottled plumage of the adults, but do not attain their
full size until the third year.