568 PSITTACID^, 



is a button-shaped seed. The shell of these is exceedingly hard, but the powerful bill 

 of the Macaw splits it with apparent ease. From the time this nut ripens in December 

 until the spring it forms the principal food of the Macaw, but it also feeds on a small 

 cocoa-nut or nuts of the " Eoyal Palm," which are also very hard. The weight of the 

 " Ava "-pod when green exceeds a pound, yet the Macaws, after gnawing off the tough 

 stem, handle it in their strong claws with ease, and even fly with it in their jaws for a 

 short distance. Acacia-beans of various kinds and other wild fruits form food for this 

 Macaw, and cornfields are sometimes visited by it. 



This Ara is gregarious, except during the breeding-season, but continues in pairs 

 throughout the year. When shifting their feeding-ground they fly at a great height, 

 but always in pairs, and utter harsh discordant cries. They congregate to roost from 

 many miles, selecting the highest branches of the tallest trees in some chosen spot, 

 which they frequent for many months together. 



They breed in holes of trees, usually selecting a wild fig-tree, one of the largest of 

 the forest. The eggs are laid on the bare wood, are two in number, rather less than 

 those of the common hen, and pure white. The breeding-season commences in April, 

 both male and female incubating the eggs in turn. 



The late P. L. Jouy ^^ found this Ara in the Barranca de Beltran in Southern Jalisco 

 in some numbers, and also in the pine-forests of Agosto. He was informed that it 

 also occurs in the Barranca de Ibarra near Guadalajara. It is a bird that joins the 

 noisy evening flights of Parrots, flying very high and uttering piercing cries. He 

 noted the iris as yellow, and the naked skin round the eye as carmine. 



5. Ara ambigua. 



Psittacus ambiguus, Bechst. Kurze Ueb. iv. p. 65 \ 



Ara ambigua, Salvad. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xx. p. 160^. 



Ara militaris, Cassin, Pr. Ac. Phil. 1860, p. 137 ' ; Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. vii. p. 299 ' ; Salv. P. Z. S. 

 1870, p. 213 ' ; Boucard, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 46 ° ; Nutting, Pr. U. S. Mus. vi. p. 407 ' ; Zeledon, 

 An. Mus. Nac. Costa Eica, 1887, p. 124" ; Richmond, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. xvi. p. 519 \ 



Sittace militaris, Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. ix. p. 131 " j v. Prantz. J. £. Orn. 1869, p. 364". 



A. militari simiUs, sed omnino major, rostro majore, colore corporis olivaceo pallidiore et flavescentiore, uropygio 

 pallidiore cseruleo. Long. tot. circa 33-0, alse 16-0, caudsB rectr. med. IB* 5, rectr. lat. 8-0, rostri 

 culminis 3'3, tarsi 1"1. (Descr. maris ex Calovevora, Panama. Mus. nostr.) 



Hah. Nicaragua, E. Escondido {Bichmond 9), Los Sabalos {Nutting ''), San Emilio ( W. 

 B. Bichardson) ; Costa Kica {v. Frantzius ^°, Zeledon 7), Barba (Carmiol ^°), San 

 Carlos, Zarcero (Boucard ^), Talamanca (Gabb, U. S. Nat. Mus.); Pa:nama, Calovevora 

 {ArcS ^), Lion Hill {M'Leannan ^), E. Nercua ( Wood ^). — Western Ecuador ^. 



This is a large form of A. militaris, exceeding that bird considerably in size, and 

 differing from it in some slight modifications of colour. 



With the specimens now before us we are able to state that its range extends to 

 Nicaragua, whence we have several specimens, and it thence spreads southwards over 



