of incubation ? It is evident that there must at first be some
degree of association, between at least two females; otherwise
the eggs would remain scattered over the wide plains, at
distances far too great to allow of the male collecting them
into one nest. Some have believed that the scattered eggs
were deposited for the young birds to feed on. This can
hardly he the case in America, because the huachos, although
oftentimes found addled and putrid, are generally whole.
When at the Rio Negro, in Northern Patagonia, I repeatedly
heard the Gauchos talking of a very rare bird which
they called Avestruz Petise. They described it as being less
than the common ostrich (which is there abundant), but
with a very close general resemblance. They said its colour
was dark and mottled, and that its legs were shorter, and
feathered lower down than those of the common ostrich. It
is more easily caught by the holas than the other species.
Tlie few inhabitants who had seen both kinds, affirmed they
could disting-uish them apart from a long distance. The eggs
of the small species appeared, however, more generally
known; and it was remarked, with 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. Some eggs,
picked up on the plains of Patagonia, agree pretty well with
this description, and I do not doubt are those of the Petise.
This species occurs most rarely on the plains bordering the
Rio Negro; but about a degree and a half further south they
are tolerably abundant. One Gaucho, however, said he distinctly
recollected having seen one, many years before, near
the mouth of the Rio Colorado, which is to the north of the
Rio Negro. They are said to prefer the plains near the sea.
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 two-third grown one of the
common sort. The bird 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. From these a very nearly perfect specimen
has been put together, and is now exhibited in the museum
of the Zoological Society. Mr. Gould, who in describing
this new species did me the honour of calling it after my
name, states, that besides the smaller size and different
colour of the plumage, the beak is of considerably less proportional
dimensions than in the common Rhea; that the
tarsi are covered with differently-shaped scales, and that they
are feathered six inches beneath the knee. In this latter
respect, and in the broader feathers of the wing, this bird
perhaps shows more affinity to the gallinaceous family than
any other of the Struthionidm.
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 with
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 he was so far off as not to distinguish the ostrich.
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, and I think with truth, that this
bird did not expand its wings, when first starting at full
speed, after the manner of the northern kind. The fact of
these ostriches swimming across the river has been mentioned.
In conclusion, I may repeat that the Struthio Rhea
inhabits the country of La Plata as far as a little south of the
Rio Negro, in lat. 41°, and that the petise takes its place in
Southern Patagonia; the part about the Rio Negro being
neutral territory. Wallis saw ostriches at Batchelor’s river
(lat. 53° 54'), in the Strait of Magellan, which must be the
extreme southern possible range of the petise. M. D’Or-
■f'El