PARROTS. 365 



the upper half of which may be either smooth or grooved, its cutting edges being 

 toothed. The cere is large and even in width across the base of the bill, and is either 

 naked or feathered. The tapering and long tail readily separates these birds from the 

 other New World forms, while from the Platycercidae of the eastern hemisphere 

 they may be distinguished by having the two median tail .feathers longer than the 

 others. 



First in the order comes the genus Sittace which embraces the macaws. These 

 are the largest of the parrots, brilliantly plumaged birds but with the colors laid on in 

 utter defiance of human ideas of beauty ; shades of red and blue which do not harmon- 

 ize are placed side by side, while the contrasts between these and the greens and 

 yellows which also occur is far from pleasing. In short, many appear like night- 

 mares of color. They are separable from others of the family by having the orbital 

 region and cheeks naked or clothed with small feathers ; and the second and third | 

 feathers of the wing long, the first shorter. 



Of the eighteen species only two or three can be mentioned. First comes the 

 hyacinth macaw, S. hyacinthina, of Brazil which reaches a length of three feet. Its 

 general color is cobalt blue, with yellow chin and orbital region. Of equal size is the 

 great scarlet macaw, S. coccinea, but it is more abundant and more widely distributed, 

 extending from Mexico to northern Brazil. The prevailing color is red, but this is 

 varied on wings, tail, and back with blue and yellow. The green macaw, S. militaris, 

 with the same distribution as the last, is somewhat smaller, having a total length of 

 about two feet and a half. 



The macaws are noisy birds with harsh and unpleasant voices. They do not talk 

 well, and only with difficulty can they be taught a few words. They make their nests 

 in hollow trees, lay but two eggs at a time, and raise two broods in a season. 

 They are far from timorous birds, and the hunters have no difficulty in bagging large 

 numbers of them. Their harsh voices make them unpleasant as pets. 



Of the genus Conurus, a single species enters the United States, but further south 

 the species are more numeixms, some thirty being known, one extending its range to 

 the Strait of Magelhaen. Some are large, others small; the prevailing colors are 

 green. The larger ones are poor talkers, or cannot articulate at all, but some of the 

 smaller species acquire considerable proficiency in this direction. The only species 

 needing mention is the Carolina parakeet, Conurus carolinensis. 



The Carolina parrot, the only species of the order which enters the territory of the 

 United States, is apparently doomed to early extinction. At the time when Wilson 

 wrote (1811), it extended north to the Ohio and even beyond, while Barton states 

 that in January, 1780, a large flock was observed twenty-five miles north of Albany, 

 N. Y. To-day the distribution is much restricted. They still occur in considerable 

 numbers in Florida and some of the southern states west of the Mississippi river. In 

 color the Carolina parakeet is generally greenish, inclining to yellow below, and with 

 the head and neck yellow, the forehead brick red. Though an inhabitant of our own 

 country, it has not yet been settled whether the adults of both sexes agree in color. 

 Females have been killed with the head and neck green like those of young birds, but 

 it is not known whether this is the color of the adult female or merely characteristic 

 of birds of the second year. 



In regard to breeding habits a somewhat similar uncertainty exists. All agree 

 that it makes its nest in hollow trees, and that the oval eggs equally curved at each 

 end are of a uniform dull white, or greenish white, but the nests are so rarely seen by 



