60 cassell's book of birds. 



in the necessary talents. "My Arara," wrote Siedhof, "has shown a great facility for speech, 

 imitating my magpie, which can talk very well. For more than four months after it came to me it was 

 quite dumb, not even uttering its frightful cry. I therefore hung it where the magpie, which chattered 

 incessantly, would be near it, and it had been exactly ten days there when it began to imitate its 

 companion. Now it can call my children by name, and learns directly whatever it is taught. It 

 has, however, one peculiarity, namely, that it usually only speaks when alone." The Scarlet Arara can 

 endure captivity for many years ; we have heard of one that was kipt forty-four years in the same 

 family. The Scarlet Macaw is sought after with equal zeal both by white men and natives ; and the 

 European sportsman rejoices when a well-directed shot puts him in possession of one of these 

 magnificent birds. " Carefully," says the Prince von Wied, " and concealed by thick bushes or trees, 

 the hunter creeps towards them, and sometimes brings down several at one shot. If wounded, the 

 bird clings to the branches by its strong beak and claws, often hanging a long time in that position. 

 Should the pursuer obtain the desired booty, it furnishes him with most agreeable food ; the flesh is 

 very like beef; that of the old birds is tough in winter, and often very fat ; but when cooked it makes 

 excellent soup. The beautiful feathers are used in many ways ; every native who has killed a macaw 

 decorates his head-dress with the brilliant red and blue plumage. The Brazilians make pens of the 

 quills from the tail, and many savage tribes employ the other feathers as ornaments. The dark ones 

 from the tail are selected to feather their arrows. Even at the present time many deck themselves 

 with these magnificent plumes. Formerly the tribe of the Lingoes manufactured ornamental articles 

 from these feathers, which they kept, until wanted for use, in boxes closed with wax. The Tapi- 

 nambes on the eastern coast, when making a feast on the death or devouring of an enemy, began it 

 in very festal array ; the slayer of the deceased was rubbed with a certain kind of gum, and then 

 thickly covered with small Arara feathers ; on his head was a crown, formed of the tail of this 

 beautiful bird." 



THE SOLDIER ARARA. 



The SoLDrER Arara (Ara miZitarps), a magnificent bird, is not inferior in size to the species 

 described above. The general colour of its plumage is bluish green ; on the under side, and over the 

 joints of the wings, this is mixed with brown; the cheeks are white, with several rows of small brown 

 feathers ; a narrow strip of blood-red feathers runs across the forehead ; the wings are blue on the 

 outer side, beneath they are of a greenish yellow, black at the edge ; the prevailing colour of the 

 tail is red, blue at the tip, and beneath greenish yellow ; the outer feathers are blue on both sides ; 

 the beak and feet are black. This species is spread over the; district near the upper part of the 

 Amazon, and reaches northward as far as the United States, 



THE ANAKAN. 

 The Anakan (Ara severa) is only 14 feet in length, its breadth 2 J feet; the tail measures 

 nine inches, and the wings ten inches. The Anakan is altogether more slenderly built than any 

 of its congeners with which we are acquainted, and its colours are less brilliant. The plumage 

 is usually green, shaded into blue on the top of the head; the forehead is reddish brown, the 

 wings blue above and dull red beneath ; the primaries blackish on the inner border, the secondaries 

 green at the edge, blue at the tip, in the middle bluish crimson. The beak is black, grey 

 at the tip ; the cere and the bare cheeks, which seem to be covered with rows of small pointed 

 black feathers, are of a yellowish flesh-colour, as are the eyes ; the feet are black. The Prince 

 von Wied found the Anakan, which is spread over all the tropical regions of America (the islands 

 included), principally in the primitive forests, in the vicinity of rivers. It lives on the highest 



