Bulletin - United States National Museum - si-pddr - Smithsonian ...

BIEDS OF ARGENTINA, PAEAGUAY, URUGUAY, AISD CHILE 23
to change with shifts in the name of the type genus. Such changes
though lamentable are less confusing than shifts in the facies of a
family complex, such as might result if the other course that has been
-outlined is adopted.
Such a course is implied in the International Code of Nomen-
•clature (art. 5), which specifies that "the name of a family or subfamily
is to be changed when its type genus is changed."
Order RHEIFORMES
Family RHEIDAE
RHEA AMERICANA (Linnaeus)
Struthio americanus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 155.
(Sergii)e, Brazil.)
In spite of continued pursuit by Indian and white hunters the
rhea still remains in fair abundance in the wilder sections of the
Chaco, while on many of the extensive estancias in the pampas of
Argentina and Uruguay the birds are preserved in bands that in
many instances include a large number of individuals. In settled
districts, where land has been divided into small holdings, the great
birds have been largely exterminated, a fate that will befall the
majority as rural population increases. At the Riacho Pilaga, Formosa,
in August, 1920, Indians brought in bundles of rhea plumes
for trade, to be sold later in Buenos Aires where they were made
into feather dusters. Near the railroad at this same locality rheas
still occurred in some of the open camps, but were more abundant
farther inland toward the Rio Pilcomayo. Occasional bands were
observed from the train in traversing the railroad line leading
northwest into the interior from the town of Formosa.
In the Paraguayan Chaco west of Puerto Pinasco rheas were
common. In 1920 fences on the holdings of the International Products
Co. had been extended westward to a point 120 kilometers from
the Rio Paraguay. Outside this boundary rheus Avere encountered
frequently but were wild and wary, as they were subject to pursuit
by Indians who frequently offered bundles of plumes or sections of
skin for sale. Small bands were to be seen within the fences in
some of the league square fotrerofi^ where open savannahs offered
suitable range, and near the ranch at Kilometer 80, west of Puerto
Pinasco, rheas were observed frequently, especially in the region
along the Riacho Jacare. On my arrival in that region on September
6 I was told that a rhea's nest containing 43 eggs had been
found a week previous, and during the period of my stay male
rheas were heard booming during the morning hours. On one oc-
casion (September 12) in company with Carl Hettman I heard this