99 



PATAGONIAN ARARA. 



Arara Patagonica. LESSON. 

 PLATE IV. 



Psittacus Patagonicus, Azara Arara Patagonica, Lesson, 

 in Dupp. Voy. autour du Monde, Part Zool. tab. 35 

 Sittace Patagonica, Wagler, in Abhand. Qc., p. 659 Pa- 

 tagonian Parrakeet Maccaw, Lears* Parrots. 



THIS large and fine looking species, whose total 

 length is seventeen inches, the tail measuring nearly 

 nine, was first described by Azara, and is a native 

 of Paraguay, the districts of Buenos Ayres, Pa- 

 tagonia, and Chili. In the latter country, it is de- 

 scribed as a most abundant species, and is resident 

 the whole year, frequenting the hilly and subalpine 

 regions during the summer, where it breeds in the 

 holes of trees and rocks, but descending as autumn 

 approaches to the lower levels, where it congregates 

 in immense flocks, and frequently does great injury 

 to the produce of the gardens and cultivated fields 

 of the inhabitants. It is said to be of a bold and 

 fearless disposition, admitting of a near approach, 

 which subjects it to be killed in immense numbers 

 by those who suffer from its depredations. Like its 



