568 PSITTACID A. 
is a button-shaped seed. The shell of these is exceedingly hard, but the powerful bill 
of the Macaw splits it with apparent ease. From the time this nut ripens in December 
until the spring it forms the principal food of the Macaw, but it also feeds on a small 
cocoa-nut or nuts of the “‘ Royal Palm,” which are also very hard. ‘The weight of the 
‘“‘Ava”-pod when green exceeds a pound, yet the Macaws, after gnawing off the tough 
stem, handle it in their strong claws with ease, and even fly with it in their jaws for a 
short distance. Acacia-beans of various kinds and other wild fruits form food for this 
Macaw, and cornfields are sometimes visited by it. 
This Ara is gregarious, except during the breeding-season, but continues in pairs 
throughout the year. When shifting their feeding-ground they fly at a great height, 
but always in pairs, and utter harsh discordant cries. They congregate to roost from 
many miles, selecting the highest branches of the tallest trees in some chosen spot, 
which they frequent for many months together. 
They breed in holes of trees, usually selecting a wild fig-tree, one of the largest of 
the forest. The eggs are laid on the bare wood, are two in number, rather less than 
those of the common hen, and pure white. ‘The breeding-season commences in April, 
both male and female incubating the eggs in turn. 
The late P. L. Jouy !8 found this Ara in the Barranca de Beltran in Southern Jalisco 
in some numbers, and also in the pine-forests of Agosto. He was informed that it 
also occurs in the Barranca de Ibarra near Guadalajara. It is a bird that joins the 
noisy evening flights of Parrots, flying very high and uttering piercing cries. He 
noted the iris as yellow, and the naked skin round the eye as carmine. 
5, Ara ambigua. 
Psittacus ambiguus, Bechst. Kurze Ueb. iv. p. 65°. 
Ara ambigua, Salvad. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xx. p. 160°. 
Ara militaris, Cassin, Pr. Ac. Phil. 1860, p. 187°; Lawr. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. vii. p.299*; Salv. P.Z.S. 
1870, p. 218°; Boucard, P. Z. 8. 1878, p.46°; Nutting, Pr. U.S. Mus. vi. p.407"; Zeledon, 
An. Mus. Nac. Costa Rica, 1887, p. 124°; Richmond, Pr. U. 8. Nat. Mus. xvi. p. 519°. 
Sitiace militaris, Lawr. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. ix. p. 181”; v. Frantz. J. f. Orn. 1869, p. 364”. 
A. militart similis, sed omnino major, rostro majore, colore corporis olivaceo pallidiore et flavescentiore, uropygio 
pallidiore ceruleo. Long. tot. circa 33-0, ale 16:0, caude rectr. med. 18°5, rectr. lat. 8-0, rostri 
culminis 3°3, tarsi 1-1. (Descr. maris ex Calovevora, Panama. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Nicaracua, R. Escondido (Richmond ®), Los Sabalos (Nutting 7), San Emilio (W. 
B. Richardson); Costa Rica (v. Frantzius?°, Zeledon™), Barba (Carmiol °), San 
Carlos, Zarcero (Boucard °), Talamanca (Gabb, U.S. Nat. Mus.); Panama, Calovevora 
(Arcé°), Lion Hill (M‘ZLeannan *), R. Nercua ( Wood *).—Western Ecvuapor 2. 
This is a large form of A. militaris, exceeding that bird considerably in size, and 
differing from it in some slight modifications of colour. 
With the specimens now before us we are able to state that its range extends to 
Nicaragua, whence we have several specimens, and it thence spreads southwards over 
