SCARLET MACCAW. 3S9 



live, according to the testimony of those who have 

 studied their habits, in the woods that cover 

 swampy grounds, and which abound in palm-trees, 

 feeding on the fruit of the Pahnettoes or Borassi, 

 of which there are innumerable forests in the over- 

 flowed savannahs of South-America. They gene- 

 rally appear in pairs, and but seldom in flocks : 

 sometimes however they assemble together, and 

 their united screams are then heard at a vast 

 distance. Of all the Parrot tribe they fly the 

 best, and are always observed to perch on the 

 summits of trees, or on the highest branch. During 

 the day they wander to the distance of about a 

 league from their favorite spot or home, but al- 

 ways return in the evening. They build in the 

 holes of old trees, which are very common in their 

 native regions, and even more numerous than the 

 rising and vigorous plants. They enlarge the hole 

 when too narrow, and line the inside with feathers. 

 They have two hatches anhually, like all other 

 American Parrots, and each consists of two eggs, 

 which are said to be of the size of Pigeon's eggs, 

 and spotted like those of a Partridge. The males 

 and females sit alternately on the eggs, or cherish 

 the young, and both equally carry the food : they 

 never desert their charge, so long as their assist- 

 ance is required, and always perch- near their nest. 

 The young are said to be easily tamed, and in 

 many parts of South-America these birds are never 

 taken but in the nest, the grown birds being much 

 less easily educated. Fernandez relates that they 

 may be taught to speak, but that their articulation 



