THE MACAWS. 191 



hand-reared birds, and are, consequently, tame when they 

 arrive, and capable of further training. 



The Eed and Blue Macaw is scarlet on the top and sides of 

 the head ; the hinder part of the back, the rump, and the 

 upper coverts of the tail, are sky-blue ; the quills and their 

 coverts blue, blackish on the inner web ; the larger upper 

 coverts of the wings, together with the long shoulder feathers, 

 are orange-yellow, with a green spot at the tip ; the bend of 

 the wing blue ; all the upper part of the body scarlet ; the 

 tail feathers sky-blue at the tip, the two outermost all blue ; 

 then this colour gradually decreases, so that on the two centre 

 feathers it only appears as a little spot ; all the reverse side 

 is also scarlet, only the under covert of the tail is blue ; the 

 upper mandible is horn-coloured greyish-white, with a black 

 spot at the base ; the under mandible black ; the eyes yellow- 

 ish-white ; the featherless cheeks whitish-flesh coloured ; the 

 feet blackish-grey, with black claws. In size it is almost as 

 large as a domestic cock (length, 39|-in. ; wings, 14|in. to 

 16iin. ; tail, lO^in. to 24fin.). It is a native of northerly 

 South America, Bolivia, North Brazil, Guatemala, and Hon- 

 duras, and is found also in Mexico and Peru. 



Bechstein gives full details of its life in captivity, but states 

 only those facts which I have already mentioned in my intro- 

 duction. This macaw is splendid to look at, can be accustomed 

 to fly in and out of the house, is said to be very amenable to 

 training, and learns to repeat words exceedingly well ; neverthe- 

 less, it not unfrequently proves very vicious, so that children 

 should on no account be left in the room alone with it. More 

 recent observation of it has disclosed nothing new. The Eed 

 and Blue Macaw is one of the commonest objects in zoological 

 gardens. According to Dr. Max Schmidt, one in the Garden at 

 Frankfort-on-the-Maine lived more than twenty years. It is to 

 be found in almost every bird show. A Eed and Blue Macaw, 

 shown by one Mr. Czarnikow in the Ornis Exhibition in Berlin 

 in 1879, was in splendid plumage, uncommonly tame and affec- 

 tionate, and was said to know more than one hundred words. 



