68 MILITARY MACAW. 



attend to all their wants, for, although they were well supplied with 

 food as a rule, once or twice they did not get exactly what they liked, 

 and when the male, for he is the chief feeder, was relieved of his 

 cares, by the death of the last of the septenniad, he was quite worn 

 by his labours, and scarce looked half his usual size, he was so weak 

 and thin. 



"The Macaws", wrote Bechstein, more than a hundred years ago, 

 "are very dear, and are only found in the possession of rich bird- 

 fanciers. Their beautiful plumage forms their principal attraction. In 

 the centre of Germany one costs from fifty to one hundred rix dollars, 

 and in the maritime cities, thirty to forty. They learn to repeat many 

 words, to go and come, and also to obey the least signal from their 

 master: they imitate perfectly the bleating of sheep, the mewing of 

 cats, and the barking of dogs: their custom of drinking only in the 

 evening seems very extraordinary." 



Macaws still maintain their price, as we have seen from the sum 

 quoted, as the cost of acquiring one of them, by Dr. Buss : we have seen 

 them drinking in the morning, and at midday as freely as in the evening, 

 so that the habit alluded to by Bechstein must have been peculiar to 

 the individual bird he had under observation when he wrote. 



It appears to us that the Military Macaw, if not quite as good a 

 speaker as his Hyacinthine relative, is nevertheless a capable and 

 intelligent bird: and we should like to try and breed him, if only we 

 had a suitable place in which to try the experiment, and we think it 

 would not be difficult with a pair of very tame and healthy birds; 

 but the age of the male would not be of much consequence, as they 

 are of an exceedingly amorous temperament, and retain the fire and 

 passion of youth to quite a considerable age: in the case of the female, 

 however, it is desirable to secure a youthful specimen, as the drain 

 on the system, consequent upon the elaboration of her eggs, would 

 be probably too much for an aged female, who would be almost certain 

 to become egg-bound, or perish in convulsions, as we have unfortunately 

 witnessed more than once. 



Given a young female of this, or any other species of Macaw, and 

 a male of any age, provide them with a suitable habitation and appro- 

 priate nesting furniture, and we have no doubt they would breed as 

 freely as a pair of Budgerigars or Cockatiels. 



We once saw a Red and Yellow male Macaw pair with a female of 

 the Yellow and Blue variety, and we have no doubt that the progeny, 

 had any resulted, would have been capable of reproduction, but the 

 poor birds were, each, chained to a stand, and we do not remember 

 that any eggs were laid; or, if so, they certainly were not incubated. 



