396 MILITARY MACCAW. 



bill, is covered with beautiful red feathers : a little 

 dusky red is seen under the bill, mixing with the 

 green feathers : the top of the head, whole neck, 

 breast, and feathers of the wings, are of a fine full 

 green colour : the green coverts beneath the tail 

 are a little mixed with red : the quills and part of 

 the row of coverts above them are of a very fme 

 sky-blue, except a few next the back, which gra- 

 dually become green : the insides of the wings, 

 and the under side of the tail are of a dirty orange- 

 colour: the middle of the back, the rump, and 

 coverts of the tail are of a fine blue : the middle 

 feathers of the tail are very long, and gradually 

 shorten towards the side-feathers, which are not 

 above a third the length of the middlemost : they 

 are all pointed, and of a fme red colour, with blue 

 tips : their number is twelve : the legs and feet 

 are covered with scales of a dusky flesh-colour 5 

 the claws dusky." 



The native region of the above bird was un- 

 known to Edwards, but it is since ascertained to be 

 an inhabitant of Guiana. A variety or smaller 

 race also occurs, and which appears to differ in 

 size only from the larger ; and this, according to 

 Monsr. Levaillant, has been confounded by the 

 Count de Buffon with the following species. 



Monsr. Levaillant figures also a variegated spe# 

 cimen, patched with red, yellow, &c, an accident 

 common, as he observes, to almost all the Parrot 

 tribe ; and with respect to the supposition, some- 

 where mentioned by Buffon, of producing colours 

 ad libitum by means of art, he very justly considers 



