PAR R O TS — BIRDS- OF- PRE Y 397 



Rhynchopsittacus pachyrhynchus is distinct; it is chiefly green, but marked with 



red, and in its powerful beak approaches the macaws. The latter, which are the 



biggest of all parrots, are distinguished by their very large beaks and long tails. 



The largest is the cobalt-blue hyacinthine macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) 



of Brazil, the blue and yellow macaw (Ara ararauna) being considerably smaller. 



The latter is blue above and golden yellow below. Besides the macaws and conures, 



the family is represented by the thick-beaked parraquets, one species of which, 



the monk-parrot (Myopsittacus monachus), inhabits Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, 



and Paraguay. In colour it is green, with a grey breast. Unlike all other parrots, 



it places its nest in the open, the nest consisting of a large number of dry twigs 



twisted together, with an entrance-hole at the side. Some years ago one of these 



parrots built in the open in the New Forest, near Lyndhurst. The nest, which was 



of large size, was constructed in the angle of the roof of a house. The parrotlets 



are distinguished by their diminutive size, and differ from other wedge-tailed groups 



by their short, almost straight tails. Their best known species {Psittaculu 



passerina), the blue-winged parrotlet, inhabits Brazil. 



Among the square-tailed parrots are the Amazons, of which the red-breasted 



Amazona (or Chrysotis) cestiva is indigenous to Brazil and Paraguay ; it has a 



blue crown and red-edged wings. The hawk-billed parrot (Deroptyus accipitrinus) 



of Guiana and Brazil is distinguished by the neck-feathers forming a collar. As 



an indication of the enormous development of tropical American parrot-life, it will 



be well to give a list of the genera restricted (with the exception of one or two 



species which range so far south as northern Patagonia) to the region under review 



and the West Indies. In the first place, all the members of the family Conurince, 



about one hundred and fifteen in number, belong to the South American region, 



and are represented by the genera Anodorhynchus (hyacinthine macaw and its 



relatives), Cyanopsittacus (blue macaw), Ara (blue-and-yellow macaw and fourteen 



other kinds), Rhynchopsittacus (with one species), Conurus (with over thirty 



species), Conuropsis, Cyanolyseus, Leptosittaca, Gnathosittaca, Henicognathus, 



Microsittaca, Pyrrhura (with over twenty species), Myopsittacus, Bolborhynchus, 



Psittacida (parrotlets), and Brotogerys. Of the ten genera of the subfamily 



Pionince all but one are tropical American ; they include Amazona or Chrysotis, 



with five-and-forty species, Pachynus, Pionus, Deroptyus, Triclaria, Piono- 



psittacus, Gypopsittacus, Urochroma, Pionites, and Pyocephalus ; the total number 



of specific representatives of the group being over one hundred. 



, , , Coming to the birds-of-prey, the first on our list are the hook- 



Birds-of-Prey. to f j > 



beaked kites (Rostrhamus), a small group of tropical American birds 

 resembling crows rather than true birds-of-prey, having slender, rather straight, 

 claws, and long, and in some cases very thin, beaks with which they extract 

 molluscs from their shells. They also feed on lizards and fishes, and are sociable 

 birds, flying about in parties and nesting in colonies. 



The pigmy kite (Gampsonyx swainsoni), the only representative of its genus, 

 inhabits the north of South America, and is of the size of a thrush and thus one of 

 the smallest birds-of-prey. In contrast to this is the harpy (TJirysaetus harpyia), 

 the largest and strongest of all South American true birds-of-prey, distinguished 

 by its exceedingly powerful legs. Of the chanting hawks (Asturina) the majority 



