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THE RED AND YELLOW MACCAW. 



Macrocercus Aracanga. Vieill. 



It has long been a question among naturalists, and 

 does not appear to be yet definitively settled, whether 

 the present bird is really a distinct species from that 

 which forms the subject of the previous article, or 

 whether it ought not rather to be regarded as a mere 

 variety descended from the same original stock. The 

 differences between the two, not only in size and colour, 

 but also in some more important particulars, are, how- 

 ever, so uniform and permanent, that we cannot but 

 follow the example of the best modern writers in con- 

 sidering them as distinct, although it must be confessed 

 that the distinction is not very Wrongly marked. 



In size the Red and Yellow Maccaw is inferior to 

 the bird last described, seldom attaining a length of 

 more than two feet and a half from the head to the tip 

 of the tail. Its general colour is less deeply red ; and 

 the blue of its quill-feathers is of a brighter and livelier 



