ORDER SCANSORES. 577 



more liinitecl than that of other parrots, and their apprehen- 

 sions less quick. They would seem, if human passions can 

 with any propriety be attributed to the animal races, to be 

 vain of their fine plumage, and to seek for admiration. They 

 are not so capable of affection as parrots or parrakeets. They 

 have not, however, the petulance of the other species, being 

 more remarkable for gravity. They pronounce the word 

 ara, from which their name is taken ; but their pronunciation 

 is not so distinct as that of other parrots. They are not dis- 

 trustful. 



These birds are very subject to epilepsy or cramp, for 

 which bleeding in the foot is recommended. They are very 

 destructive to the coffee plantations in America. When young, 

 their flesh is tolerably good. 



The aras are not gregarious, like the parrots and parra- 

 keets ; they generally associate only in pairs, and seven or 

 eight are rarely seen together. They seldom go to the 

 ground, probably on account of the difficulty they experience 

 in rising from it, in consequence of the length of their wings 

 and shortness of their legs : hence it is easy to catch them 

 when they are met with in that situation, before they can 

 climb a tree, from the elevation of which they can easily 

 spread their wings ; they fly horizontally, at no great height ; 

 the seeds of forest-trees are their favourite food, in preference 

 to cultivated fruits. 



They construct their nests in hollow trees, and one species, 

 the Hyacinthine Maccaw, is said to make holes for the pur- 

 pose in the perpendicular banks of rivers, in which they lay 

 only two eggs ; the male assists his mate in her incubation. 

 The young make no cry for food. 



The Red and Blue Maccaw of the English writers, P. 

 Maccao, is as big as a fowl. It inhabits South America and 

 the Antilles, but is observed to recede from those parts which 

 the colonists bring, by degrees, into cultivation. It is fond of 



