File:Birds and nature (1906) (14565646740).jpg

Identifier: birdsnature31906chic (find matches)
Title: Birds and nature
Year: 1900 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Birds Natural history
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Mumford, Publisher
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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eeding habits of the Rheasbased on his observations made as nat-uralist to Her Majestys Ship Beagle onan exploring voyage around the worldduring the years 1831 to 1836. Hewrites: When we were at Bahia Blanca(Argentina) in the months of Septemberand October, the eggs, in extraordinarynumbers, were found all over the coun-try. They lie either scattered and single,in which case they are never hatched,and are called by the Spaniards huachos,or they are collected into a shallow exca-vation, which forms the nest. Out ofthe four nests which I saw, three con-tained twenty-two eggs each, and thefourth twenty-seven. In one days hunt-ing on horseback, sixty-four eggs werefound; forty-four of these were in twonests, and the remaining twenty scat-tered huachos. Mr. Darwin also statesthat the Peasantry and Herdsmen(Gauchos) unanimously affirm, andthere is no reason to doubt their state-ment, that the male bird alone hatchesthe eggs, and for some time afterwardaccompanies the young. He also says 194
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FROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES 153 SOUTH AMERICAN RHEA. (Rhea americana). Vs Life-size. COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO the male lies so very close when on thenest that he had almost ridden over one.It is also asserted that at such times themale Rheas are sometimes fierce, andeven dangerous, for they have beenknown to attack a man while on horse-back and try to kick and leap upon him.The fact that the work of incubation iswholly performed by the males has beenproven by carefully made observationsof wild males in their nature homes, andalso of captive individuals in England,which have freely bred. It is generallyunderstood that the period of incubationlasts for about thirty days, and that inthe southern portions of their range theeggs in the sets vary from fifteen totwenty, while in the northern portionsas large a number as thirty-two havebeen noted in a set. There are two other species of rheasbesides the one of our illustration. Therange of the species of our illustrationext

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