Vol. XXII 

 1905 



Clark, Lesser Antillean Macaws. 2D7 



ornis magnirostris 1 Martinique) seem to ally them with South 

 America ; while Cinchlerminia 2 (Guadeloupe, Dominica, and 

 Martinique), Rhamphocindus brachyurus (Martinique and St. 

 Lucia), Saltator guadeloupensis (Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Mar- 

 tinique), and Thalurania bicolor (Dominica) demonstrate that as 

 a group they are distinct from the islands around them.s 



We must admit, then, the possibility of these three islands 

 having had upon them species of the genus Ara (which is found 

 in the Greater Antilles, Central, and South America), even although 

 it is unknown from any of the other Lesser Antilles. 



Dutertre (1654) is the first to give an account in detail of the 

 ornithology of these islands. Under the heading " De V Arras" 

 (p. 294) he says: "We have in Guadeloupe three of the parrot 

 kind, viz : — Macaws, Parrots, and Parrakeets, each different from 

 those which inhabit the neighboring islands ; for each has its 

 parrots different from those of the others in size, voice, and 

 color. 



"The Macaw is the largest of all the parrot tribe ; for although 

 the parrots of Guadeloupe are larger than all other parrots, both 

 of the islands and of the main land, the Macaws are a third larger 

 than they. 



"The head, neck, underparts, and back are flame color. The 

 wings are a mixture of yellow, azure, and scarlet. The tail is 

 wholly red, and a foot and a half long. The natives hold the 

 feathers of the tail in great esteem ; they stick them in their hair, 

 and pass them through the lobe of the ear and the septum of the 

 nose to serve as mustaches, and consider themselves then much 

 more genteel and worthy of the admiration of Europeans. 



" This bird lives on berries, and on the fruit of certain trees, 

 but principally on the apples of the manchioneel (!), which is a 

 powerful and caustic poison to other animals. It is the prettiest 

 sight in the world to see ten or a dozen Macaws in a green tree. 



1 Vide Gurney, Ibis, 1876, p. 482. 



2 One species is found on St. Lucia also. 



3 St. Lucia, with a resident South American species {Antrostomus rtifus) 

 and two peculiar genera" (Melanospiza and Leucopeza), together with a species 

 of Cinchlerminia, is most nearly allied to them. 



