The Descent of Man

llent account of the habits of this bird under
confinement, by Mr. A.W. Bennett, in 'Land
and Water,' May 1868, p. 233.) So that with this
emu we have a complete reversal not only of
the parental and incubating instincts, but of the
usual moral qualities of the two sexes; the females
being savage, quarrelsome, and noisy,
the males gentle and good. The case is very
different with the African ostrich, for the male
is somewhat larger than the female and has
finer plumes with more strongly contrasted
colours; nevertheless he undertakes the whole
duty of incubation. (24. Mr. Sclater, on the incubation
of the Struthiones, 'Proc. Zool. Soc.'
June 9, 1863. So it is with the Rhea darwinii:
Captain Musters says ('At Home with the Patagonians,'
1871, p. 128), that the male is larger,
stronger and swifter than the female, and of
slightly darker colours; yet he takes sole charge
of the eggs and of the young, just as does the
male of the common species of Rhea.)