During our (Nora Patrich, Juan Manuel Sanchez & me
and ably assisted by our subject Linda Lorenzo) pursuit of Argentine nostalgia
I found that Patrich had objects that met up with any obscure nostalgia I had
on my place of birth.
One of them was seeing South American rheas (related to
Australian ostriches) swiftly run across the Pampa from my vantage point on a
horse. I would then urge my horse to gallop in their direction. I never really
got that close.
In estancia (Argentine for ranch) asados (barbecues) well
aged meet was offered to guests while the workers of the estancia at very tough
freshly slaughtered beef. For dessert we had luscious cakes but again those
workers ate cakes made from the eggs of the avestruz (as rheas are called in
Argentina). The taste was strong as was the smell. Argentines call the stench
of a sweaty horse or that of a rhea’s egg catinga.
We had a hollowed out rhea’s egg at home that did not survive our move from Buenos Aires to Mexico City. Nora did not have that problem. She had the egg which resulted in many photographs in which I used fine grain slow and very fast Ilford film. A few of the pictures here I took with Kodak Black&White Infrared Film.
I found this interesting account on Darwin's observations on the Argentine avestruz here. It saved me the painful effort of copying it from my own personal copy of Darwin's The Voyage of the Beagle.
Struthio Rhea
I will now give an account of … the Struthio Rhea, or
South American ostrich. This bird is well known to abound over the plains of
Northern Patagonia, and the united provinces of La Plata. It has not crossed
the Cordillera; but I have seen it within the first range of mountains on the
Uspallata plain…. The ordinary habits of the ostrich are familiar to everyone.
They feed on vegetable matter; such as roots and grass; but at Bahia Blanca, I
have repeatedly seen three or four come down at low water to the extensive
mud-banks which are then dry, for the sake, as the Gauchos say, of catching
small fish. Although the ostrich in its habits is so shy, wary, and solitary,
and although so fleet in its pace, it falls a prey, without much difficulty, to
the Indian or Gaucho armed with the bolas. When several horsemen appear in a
semicircle, it becomes confounded, and does not know which way to escape. They
generally prefer running against the wind; yet at the first start they expand
their wings, and like a vessel make all sail. On one fine hot day I saw several
ostriches enter a bed of tall rushes, where they squatted concealed, till quite
closely approached. It is not generally known that ostriches readily take to
the water. Mr. King informs me that at the Bay of San Blas, and at Port Valdes
in Patagonia, he saw these birds swimming several times from island to island.
…When swimming, very little of their bodies appear above water, and their necks
are extended a little forward: their progress is slow. On two occasions, I saw
some ostriches swimming.
Charles Darwin – The Voyage of the Beagle
The following passage is thought by some Darwin scholars
to reflect one of Darwin’s most significant “aha” moments, leading to his
understanding of evolutionary processes. The bird described here is known as
the Avestruz Petise, and was named by the ornithologist Gould as Rhea darwinii.
However,since the bird was earlier named (based on reports, not specimens)
Pterocnemia pennata (the Lesser rhea), Darwin’s name does not survive today in
the annals of taxonomy.
Read the passage then I’ll note its presumed
significance.
…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. … The few inhabitants who
had seen both kinds, affirmed they could distinguish them apart from a long
distance. … 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.
…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 …
In my Buenos Aires youth my mother dusted the house with a plumero which was made from avestruz feathers. I believe that if the Hoover had not been invented these majestic birds would be extinct.
In my Buenos Aires youth my mother dusted the house with a plumero which was made from avestruz feathers. I believe that if the Hoover had not been invented these majestic birds would be extinct.
