154 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



since that time, but it has not been, secured in any- 

 thing like such numbers as the last three specie*. Russ 

 says of it : " Fairly frequent in zoological gardens ; rare 

 with aviculturists." 



SEVERE MACAW (Ara tcvcra). 



Green; primary coverts and flights blue, the latter 

 edged with black at the tips, the secondaries with green 

 edges to the outer webs ; innermost secondaries entirely 

 green ; tail-feathers above reddish-brow:!, edged with 

 green towards base a.nd tipped with blue ; he:id washed 

 with blue ; forehead, margin of cheeks, and chin chest- 

 nut-brown ; feathered lines on cheeks black ; naked skin 

 on sides of head whitish flesh-colour ; edge of wing and 

 outer lesser wing-coverts below red. the rest green ; 

 greater under-coverts dull-olive; flights and tail below 

 deep golden-red ; beak and feet black ; irid^s yellow. 

 Female probably with shorter beak and more arched 

 culmen. Hat)., "Brazil, the Amazon's Valley to 

 Bolivia, Guiana, Colombia, and Panama." (Salvadori.) 



According to Burmeister (" Systematische Ueber- 

 sK-.ht," Vol. II., p. 161) : Prince zu Wied says that 

 " it lives in pairs during the breeding season, otherwise 

 in company, subsists especially on the fruit of the 

 Jandiroba (Feuillea cordifolia) of the Jikitiba, and 



ILLIGER'S MACAW. 

 (PhotoyrapJi from life.] 



another with milky juice, which the prince did not recog- 

 nise. Their flocks are very injurious to the maize 

 plants. When seeking food in the tops of the trees, 

 they are, like many species, talkative ; utter all kinds 

 of wonderful sounds, such as snarling, shouting, whis- 

 pering, and they fly thence with screeching cries as soon 

 as one approaches them. Their flight is strikingly 

 rapid." The London Zoological Society acquired two 

 specimens of this bird in 1884, one by purchase, the 

 other on deposit. RUFS says that it occurs " in Zoo- 

 logical Gardens and at all exhibitions, rarely in the 

 hands of an aviculturist ; little admired. Price 15 to 

 20 marks for a specimen." From the above it would 

 appear that it is only exhibited by dealers. 



ILLIGER'S MACAW (Ara maracana). 



The prevailing colour of this bird is green ; the romp, 

 upper tail-coverts, and under wing-coverts olivaceous ; 

 forehead, rose-red ; remainder of head and nape, 

 greenish blue, the crown deeper in tint ; a red patch 

 on the lower back and another on the middle of the 

 abdomen ; front margin of wing bluish ; wing, except- 

 ing the lesser and median coverts, chiefly blue ; tail 

 blue, the base washed with reddish-brown ; under sur- 

 face of flights and tail yellowish olive, dusky towards 

 the tips ; beak horn-black ; feet brownish, or ochreous 

 flesh ; naked cheeks yellowish flesh* ; iris, chestnut. 

 Female smaller, the rose-red on the forehead more 

 restricted, the beak slightly shorter. In the young the 

 restriction of the rose red on the forehead is greater, 

 the upper parts are spotted with greyish-brown, and 

 the red patches on back and abdomen are yellower. 

 Hab.. 15rax.il and Paraguay. 



Burmeister savs of this v Macaw : "I obtained tbis 

 Parrot at New Freiburg, but only once ; it is no friend 

 to mountain forests, but lives rather in the lower plains 

 near the mouths of streams; it is, for instance, found 

 abundantly on the Parahyba between Cape Frio and 

 the mouth of the river." 



From his further observation " that it agrees with 

 the ' Severe Macaw ' in its manner of life "it is 

 evident thut during the breeding season it is seen only 

 in pairs, but at other times in companies, that it sub- 

 sists upon fruits of various kinds and 

 maize, that when feeding in the tree- 

 tops it is extremely noisy, and its 

 flight is astoundingly rapid. 



An interesting account of this 

 species in captivity is given by Mr. 

 0. E. Cresrswell in Vol. IV. of The 

 Avicitltural Magazine, First Series, pp. 

 65-67. 



Illiger's Macaw first arrived at the 

 Regent's Park Gardens in 1861, after 

 which there was an interval of ten 

 years, and then two examples were 

 added ; others have been purchased or 

 deposited since that time. 



Russ says: "A pair belonging to 

 Dr. Frenzel bred one young one, 

 which, however, only survived a few 

 days. The pair were very amorous ; 

 little destructive to woodwork ; rarely 

 screamed ; on the contrary, they 

 uttered not unpleasant sounding 

 grunts, and the male also a little song; 

 never fly in the aviary, climb actively. 

 They first went to nest in June, 

 1880. Clutch two eggs; the female 



* Burmeifter says the cheeks are reddish- 

 yellow ; the iris, brown internally, orange exter- 

 nally. 



