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fglLITARY IgACAW. 



Psittacus militaris, Linn., Euss. 



Synonyms: Ara militaris, Gr.; Arara militaris, Vll.; 



Psittacus militaris et ambiguus, Kl.; Macrocercus militaris., Jard., Bp. 



Sittace militaris, Wgl. 



German: Der Soldaten- Arara. French: L' ara militaire, Vll. 



MOBE frequently imported than the preceding species, the Military 

 Macaw is nevertheless not a common bird, and we are at a 

 loss to understand the reason that induced so many writers to bestow 

 upon it a soldierly designation which, in our opinion, should have 

 been reserved for his relative the Eed and Blue Macaw; it seemed, 

 however, befitting in the eyes of the great Linngeus, and subsequent 

 authors have tacitly accepted the master's dictum without question. 



This bird is an inhabitant of the northern parts of South America, 

 and extends into Central America; it is rather inferior in size to the 

 Hyacinthine Macaw, but is equally noisy and objectionable in a house: 

 it should be treated in the same manner, and is quite as robust. 

 Jardine states that . " it is now ascertained to be a native of Mexico 

 and Peru, inhabiting the warmer districts of the Andean chain, and 

 attaining to an elevation of about three thousand feet'', which is surely 

 a colossal stature for even a Macaw. 



As the same author states in another place that the Carolina Conure 

 is the only Parrot that is found in North America, we have no alter- 

 native, especially as he couples the Military Macaw with Mexico, than 

 to conclude that he believed the latter country to form a portion of 

 the southern continent of America, which, however, in view of the 

 date at which he wrote, is quite a pardonable error. 



This Macaw has a crimson forehead, and a reddish brown chin; the 



rest of the head, the neck, lesser wing coverts, the back, and all the 



under parts of the body are green; the rump and upper tail coverts 



are blue; the tail is scarlet above, with blue tips, and orange yellow 



ii. p 



