390 SCARLET MACCAW. 



is hoarse and unpleasant. It is but rarely how- 

 ever that those which are brought to Europe are 

 known to articulate more than a word or two 3 and 

 their general voice is a loud and piercing scream. 

 In a state of captivity, like many other birds, 

 they are subject to epileptic fits, which however 

 do not prevent them from arriving at a very con- 

 siderable age, sometimes not less than thirty 

 years. 



To this general description of the manners of 

 the Maccaw it would be unpardonable not to add 

 the short but striking description of a flight of 

 Maccaws, which made its appearance in view of 

 Lord Anson and some of his company, while 

 seated in a romantic spot in the island of Quibo, 

 and admiring the view of a magnificent water- 

 fall. 



" Near the north-east point of the island, says |j 

 the relator, they discovered a natural cascade, 

 which surpassed, as they conceived, every thing of 

 this kind which human art or industry hath hitherto 

 produced. It was a river of transparent water, 

 about forty yards wide, which ran down a declivity 

 of near a hundred and fifty yards in length : the ^ 

 channel it ran in was very irregular, for it was ^ 

 entirely formed of rock j both its sides and bottom 

 being made up of large detached blocks, and by 

 these the course of the water was frequently inter- 

 rupted, for in some places it ran sloping, with a . 

 rapid but uniform motion, while in other parts it I 

 tumbled over the ledges of rocks with a perpen- f 

 dicular descent. All the neighbourhood of thi^ ! 



