Evening star., 1934-06-03

its size and general genus. The birds,
in the wild state. live in flocks Of
anywhere from half dozen to so or
so. There is a male leader who, in
the mating season, drives off all
younger roosters. But the strange
thing is that all of the hens lay their
eggs in one nest. There may be from
80 to so eggs in one of these COM
munity nests, each equal in size to
dozen hens eggs. The eggs laid. the
female has discharged her biological
obligation. Care of the nest, the
Matching and bringing up the young
devolves on the male. This is no light
task as the male must sit on the eggs
As days. The female pays no more at
tention to eggs or young. Feminist!
Darwin's Discovery.
1t was Darwin who first brought
world attention TO the rhea. When, a
century ago. he visited Patagonia, he
found the bird and captured a speci-
men. This type became known to Sci
ence as the Rhea Darwin. 1t was not
until so years ago that domestication
Of the ostrich and ostrich farming on
commercial scale was undertaken.
In the late Victorian days it was a
good business. Reference to any Cooley
book or other Victorian fashion plate
will reveal how necessary was the
ostrich feather as an appurtenance Of
dress. The fact that the Prince Of
Wales bears three ostrich feathers as
the crest on his coat of arms, and that
1t was decreed that all women pre-
sented at the Court of st. James must
wear ostrich feathers in their hair,
al served to give vogue TO the hand
some plumes.
At first the Patagonia rhea was
hunted on the pampas The gauchos.
mounted on their f1eetest horses, pur-
sued the SWift-striding birds with
bOleadoras. The boleadora is wicked
weapon consisting of two or three
weights attached to the ends of leather
thongs. The rider, on gaining striking
distance, would whirl his boleadora
round his head and then let fly. The
weights would carry the thongs whis-
tling through the air. the object be-
ing to strike the neck or legs of the
rhea which would be likely to stum-
bic from the impact and, in any event,
would become entangled in the thongs.
Old prints of the Currier and Ives
type, printed as early as 1920, depict
ostrich hunting on the pampas.
Used For Food.
The ostrich. it has been found is
valuable for more than feathers. A
great many are kept only for their
feathers being seasonally plucked as
sheep are sheared Others are used
for food. The flesh. especially if the
young are fed on poultry foods, is
similar TO that Of the turkey. The
eggs, too, are edible. Also, the bird
is a source of pepsin.
The rhea thrives best in a semi
wild state; that is, unconflned. Left
| to roam over wide areas, the birds
nevertheless will join barn-yard fowls
at feeding time. They are not wild
but require wide ranging space. They
/ feed on grass. insects, small rodents
and grain. Some of the great Argen-
tine eStanciaS will have as many as
| 5000 rheas in a flock and it usually is
calculated that each one should be
allowed at least an acre Of range
Exports are substantial and were
| growing until exchange difficulties
slowed up the trade in the last two
years In 1882, for example, the
1 United States imported s92 kilos OF
the plumes. France and Spain are
! good customers. A new twist in mil
linery, new vogue in any kind of use
Of the ostrich plume would make the
Argentine ostrich estancias very valu-
( able