58 CASSELL'S BOOK OF BIRDS. 



THE ARARAS. 



Amongst the Long-tailed Parrots, the Araras {Arm) are easily distinguished by their unusually 

 large beak, furnished with a smooth broad summit. The lower mandible is very short and incised 

 or obliquely cut, without any ridge upon the chin, and having its base entirely covered by a cere. 

 The cheeks are broad and naked, but sometimes covered with small feathers arranged in rows ■ the 

 tarsus is thick, strong, and short ; the toes long, and furnished with large strongly bent claws ■ the 

 wings are long and pointed, and reach far down the tail, which is longer than the body. The 

 plumage is very thick. 



The members of this very conspicuous group are almost exclusively confined to the eastern parts 

 of South America, where they inhabit the primitive forests, far from man and the turmoil of the world. 

 Unlike other parrots, they live in little companies, which very rarely unite to form a flock. They feed 

 principally upon fruit, are comparatively quiet, and although they exhibit but little vivacity, are as 

 intelligent as the rest of their race. 



THE SCARLET MACAW (Ara Macao). 



■ This species is about 2| feet long, of which more than i foot belongs to the tail ; the stretch of 

 its wings is about 3! feet. The plumage is magnificent and very brightly coloured. The head, neck, 

 breast, and belly are scarlet ; the feathers of the neck and upper part of the back have a greenish 

 edge, which becomes broader lower down. The middle and lower regions of the back, the rump, and 

 under tail-covers are a beautiful sky blue ; the upper feathers of the wings are scarlet ; the middle, 

 hinder, under, and shoulder feathers green, the latter shaded with red ; the front wing-covers are 

 ultramarine on the outer web, and on the inner pale red. The same is the case with the inner 

 wing-covers ; the middle tail-feathers are more or less red, the inner web of the quills black. On 

 the naked flesh-coloured cheeks, which look as though powdered with white flour, are five or six 

 rows of little pencil-shaped red feathers, implanted near the nostrils, and ranged around the eyes ; 

 the beak is of a clear horn colour, black at the point and edge, as is the lower mandible ; the eyes 

 are yellowish white, the feet blackish grey, the claws brownish black. The two sexes are alike in 

 colour, the young birds more delicately tinted than the old ones. In the variety of this bird 

 represented in the frontispiece to Part L, the colours are somewhat different. 



The principal portion of the plumage is bright scarlet, the quill-feathers of the wings fine blue, 

 the greater wing-coverts yellow, tinged with green, the upper and under tail-coverts blue, the two 

 middle feathers of the tail crimson, and the remainder of the tail-feathers, which gradually decrease 

 in length towards the sides, are partly red and partly blue ; the feet are dusky black, the naked skin 

 of the cheeks wrinkled and white, the upper mandible whitish, and the lower one black or dusky. 



The Macaw was formerly to be found in the immediate neighbourhood of such large cities 

 as Rio de Janeiro, &c, but it has long since left the inhabited part of the country. Flat, 

 well-watered, primitive forests appear to be its favourite haunts; it will not ascend mountains, 

 but in high, parched districts, burnt up by the heat of the sun, or in the rocky, wild parts of 

 Bahia, its cry is constantly to be heard. " Whilst we were upon the rivers that irrigate the woods 

 upon the coast," says the Prince von Wied, "we saw this proud red bird, and recognised it at 

 once by its voice, size, and streaming tail, as it slowly beat the air with its long large wings, and 

 steered -its course through the blue air." " The habits of this beautiful bird," continues the same 

 author, "resemble those of other parrots. At noon we generally saw them sitting quietly upon the 



