310 Clark, The Macaio of Dominica. \juhr 



following; speaking of the birds of Dominica he says (p. 29) : "The 

 mackaw is of the parrot kind, but larger than the common parrot, 

 and makes a more disagreeable, harsh noise. They are in great 

 plenty, as are also parrots in this island; have both of them a 

 delightful green and yellow plumage, with a scarlet coloured 

 fleshy substance from the ears to the root of the bill, of which 

 colour is likewise the chief feathers of their wings and tail. They 

 breed on the tops of the highest trees, where they feed on the berries 

 in great numbers together; and are easily discovered by their loud 

 chattering noise, which at a distance resembles human voices. 

 The mackaws cannot be taught to articulate words ; but the parrots 

 of this country may, by taking pains with them when caught young. 

 The flesh of both is eat, but being very fat, it wastes in roasting, 

 and eats dry and insipid; for which reason, they are chiefly used to 

 make soup of, which is accounted very nutritive." 



Of course the possibility at once suggests itself that the "mackaw" 

 is only the larger parrot of the island, Amazona imperialis Rich- 

 mond, the "common parrot" being Amazona bouqueti (Bechstein); 

 but in the former there is no red on the face, nor is it green and 

 yellow, nor are the chief feathers of the wings and tail red ; more- 

 over, it is quite unlikely that anyone should confuse a macaw and a 

 parrot, while it is quite probable that the two parrots were con- 

 sidered the same species, a misunderstanding of the specific limits 

 of parrots being very prevalent at the present time in the tropics 

 of the New World. There is such a great difi^erence in life between 

 a macaw and a parrot, while the parrots of the genus Amazona 

 with which I am acquainted in the field are in general habit so 

 similar, that I am forced to the conclusion that Atwood has con- 

 sidered the two parrots as one, and taken his description from the 

 more brilliantly colored, and that his macaw is a boym fide member 

 of, the genus Ara; but it appears to be different from all the known 

 members of the genus, and may to advantage be knowna by the 

 provisional name of Ara atwoodi. 



I take this opportunitv of correcting an error which appears to 

 have been the cause of considerable confusion; in an article on 

 West Indian parrots,^ I gave a list (p. 344) of all the species known 

 to inhabit or to have inhabited those islands; those now extinct 



^ The West Indian Parrots; Auk, Vol. XXII, No. 4, pp. 337-344, October, 1905. 



