MACA WS. 



=43 



Sub-Family II. 

 THE MACAWS. ARAIN^. 



General Characteristics. — Bill large, the culmen of the upper mandible much 

 arched to the tip, which is prolonged and acute, the lower mandible deeper than 

 long, and rather broader at the base than the upper, with the gonys advancing 

 upwards and rounded ; the tail lengthened, graduated, and the tip of each feather 

 narrowed. 



The Macaws are natives of the warmer regions of South Ame- 

 rica and the West Indies, and are amongst the largest of the 



Fig. 126.— The Blue and Yellow Macaw 

 {Ara caerulea). 



Parrot race. They are easily domesticated, and soon become 

 familiar, but in their powers of imitation they fall very far short 

 of the true parrots. Their natural cries are harsh, discordant, 



