MACCARONI— MADGE 529 



common bird in captivity, though perhaps less often seen than the 

 foregoing. The Eed-and-yellow species, A. chloroptera, ranging from 

 Gruatemala to Brazil, is smaller, or at least has a shorter tail, and 

 is not quite so usually met with in menageries. The Red-and-green, 

 A. militaris, smaller again than the last, is unfrequent in confine- 

 ment, and presents the colours of the name it bears. This has the 

 most northerly extension of habitat, occurring in Mexico and thence 

 southwards to Bolivia. All the other species are comparatively 

 rare in a reclaimed condition. Four of them, A. hyacinthina, A. 

 leari, A. glauca, and A. spixi, are almost entirely blue, while in A. 

 manilata and A. nobilis the prevailing colour is green, and A. severa 

 is green and blue. 



As is the case with most Neotropical birds, very little is known 

 of the habits of Macaws in a state of nature. They are said to 

 possess considerable power of flight, rising high in the air and 

 travelling long distances in search of their food, which consists of 

 various kinds of fruits ; but of any special differences of behaviour 

 we are wholly ignorant. The sexes appear in all cases to be alike 

 in colouring, and the birds, though constantly paired, are said to 

 live in companies. Like other Fsittaci, they nest in hollow trees, 

 and the eggs, asserted to be two in number, are white without any 

 lustre. Of the habits of these birds in confinement it is needless 

 to speak, as they are so extremely well known. If caged, their 

 long tail-feathers are sui-e to suffer, but chained by the leg to a 

 perch, Macaws seem to enjoy themselves as well as any captive can, 

 and will live for many years. 



MACCARONI, a seaman's name for one of the crested Pen- 

 guins, Eudyptes clirysolophus, so-called probably at the time {circa 

 1769) when the word was a cant term for a fop or exquisite, with 

 his hair dressed in extravagant fashion, this bird having its head more 

 conspicuously attired than its congener E. chrysocome, the Eock- 

 HOPPER, with which it often consorts {Ibis, 1860, p. 327). 



MACKEREL-BIRD, -COCK, -GULL or -DIVER, local names— 

 the first for the Wryneck (Cecil Smith, B. Guernsey, p. 94), the 

 second for the Manx Shearwater, the third one of the numerous 

 appellations of the Razor-BILL, and the last used on the coast of 

 North America for a Tern ; but all referring to the appearance of 

 their respective bearers being coincident with that of the well- 

 known Fish. 



MACROCHIRES, Nitzsch's name in 1829 for a "Family" of 

 Birds composed of the Trochili (Humming-bird) and Cypseli (Swift). 



MADGE, short for Margaret, a nickname of the Barn OwL, 

 and also of the Pie ; but 



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