308 T1II<: TROPICAL WORLD. 



inmates of Iviiinbler dwellings. ' Superior in size and ))eauty 

 to every parrot of South America,' says Waterton, ' the ara 

 {Macrocercus Macao) will force you to take your eyes from 

 the rest of animated nature, and gaze at him : his com- 

 manding strength ; the flaming scarlet of his body ; the 

 lovely variety of red, yellow, blue, and green in his wings ; the 

 extraordinary length of his scarlet and blue tail, seem all to 

 form and demand for him the title of emperor of all the parrots. 

 He is scarce in Demerara, till you reach the confines of the 

 Macoushi country ; there he is in vast abundance : he mostly 

 feeds on trees of the palm species. When the concourites 

 have ripe fruit on them, they are covered with this magnificent 

 parrot : he is not shy or wary ; you may take your blowpipe 

 and quiver of poisoned arrows and kill more than you are able 

 to carry back to your hut. They are very vociferous, and, like 

 the common parrots, rise up in bodies towards sunset, and fly 

 two and two to their place of rest. It is a grand sight in 

 ornithology to see thousands of aras flying over your head, low 

 enough to let you have a full view of their flaming mantle.' 



The Paroquets, or Parakeets, are smaller than the common 

 parrots, and have longer tails. There are numerous species, 

 some distinguished by a very long pointed tail, and collar-like 

 mark round the neck, which inhabit the Asiatic continent and 

 islands ; and others, natives of Australia, which are distinguished 

 by their colour being gorgeously variegated and peculiarly 

 mottled on the back, by their tail feathers not being pointed, 

 and by their being furnished with elongated tarsi adapted for 

 running on the ground. 



To the former belongs the beautiful ring paroquet, which is 

 supposed to have- been the first bird of the parrot kind known 

 to the ancient Grreeks, having been brought from the island of 

 Ceylon, after the Indian expeditions of Alexander the Great ; 

 to the latter, the elegant green parakeet, which in the hot 

 seasons congregates about the pools in almost incredible 

 numbers. Though capable of a rapid and even fliglit, and 

 frequently at great altitudes, it is generally found running over 

 the ground, and treading its way among the grasses to feed on 

 the seeds. It can easily be domesticated, and a more elegant 

 or beautiful pet can scarely be conceived. 



