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W. Shore-Baily—My Patagonian Parrots



scarlet; under side of tail-feathers, red ; a narrowband across forehead,

dark chestnut brown ; front of head, light brown ; upper mandible,

white, with tip black ; lower mandible, black ; patch of bare skin

around the eye white ; size about equal to the Alexandrine Parrakeet.

It will be noticed that the forehead, wing-butts, and tail correspond

very closely in colour with the same parts in “A.severa ”, and the rest of

the body with that of “C. hoemorrlious ”. I have always considered this

latter bird to be closely allied to the smaller Macaws, especially in regard

to the size of its bill. This bill, by the way, is a most formidable weapon.

The bird uses it very effectively on the woodwork of the aviary, and if

you have occasion to handle it, very stout gloves are advisable. In my

hybrids the bill is still larger, and they easily bite through the wire

netting of their aviary. One Sunday morning early this month I was

aroused early in the morning by the screams of Parrots outside my

bedroom window, and on looking out I was in time to see a little flight

of five iust disappearing over the tops of some high elm-trees. One of

the hybrid Macaws had eaten a large hole through the roof of the aviary

and let its companions out. For three or four days they remained

together, visiting all the neighbouring villages, and subsisting,

apparently upon leaves and bark, for as far as I know they were never

seen upon the ground. They looked very pretty soaring 40 or 50

yards in the air, and their loud calls could be heard half a mile away.

“ Reminds one of India,” I heard one comrade say to another as the birds

flew over their heads, and it is really a pity that it is not safe to leave

this kind of bird at liberty, as even if one could train them to come back

regularly to food, they would, as things are now, sooner or later fall

victims to the man with the gun. Of my birds, the wire-cutter found

its way back after five days’ liberty, two others were captured in

neighbouring villages, and two are still missing. These birds are quite

hardy, and I was surprised that they made no attempt to breed. In

their own country they nest in holes in cliffs and river-banks, so I had

some nest-boxes sunk into a bank in their aviary, but they made no

use of them ; possibly they may have been interfered with when on the

ground by my Mantchurian Pheasants, or they may not be true pairs.

Another Patagonian Parrot, or, at any rate, an Argentine one, is the

Maximilian Parrot, “Pionus maximiliani,” Of these rare birds I have



