CAGE AND SINGING BIllDS. 
129 
and imitating all kinds of noises. They ina}^ be fed upon 
bread and milk, mixed with hemp-seed, which should be 
1)reviouslj scalded ; broken biscuit should also occasionally 
)e given, and some ripe fruit when it is in season. Meat, 
sugar, and sweetmeats are frequently given, but these are all 
unwholesome ^ they heat the system, and cause the bird to 
feel uncomfortable, so that it pulls out its feathers and bites 
its flesh, and becomes a misery to itself, and an unsightly 
object to look upon. Macaws drink but little, perhaps 
because their food is generally moist; but they should 
ahvays have water within reach ; bathing keeps them in 
health and promotes cleanliness, which is very necessary, as 
they are naturally dirty birds. They are best kept upon a 
stand, fastened with a small chain; but they should be 
cautiously approached by strangers and children, as they 
are apt to be spiteful. They show to most advantage loose 
in an aviary, where they have space to display tlieir re 
splendent plumes. 
THE GREAT GREEN MACAW. 
This, like the preceding species, is a native of South 
America ; but if we may judge from its extreme scarcity 
and high price in Europe, it must be a much rarer bird. 
It seldom exceeds two feet in length, including the very 
long tail. The plumage is nearly all of a green colour, 
varying from a grassy tint to a deep olive, and running 
at places into a blue. The beak is large and black, 
the feet brownish flesh colour, and in the rump feathers 
there is a slight admixture of red; the two middle tail 
feathers are much longer than the rest; this, indeed, is the 
case with all the macaws that we Jiave seen ; and these 
feathers, like the rest of those on the tail, are red at the 
roots, blue in the centre, and green at the tips. This is a 
very docile and talkative bird,'^if the manners of the few 
specimens which we have had an opportunity of observing 
may be taken as indicative of its general character. It may 
be treated like the macaws last described, with which it 
makes up a beautiful family group, although he would be a 
fortunate fancier who possessed them all. From these grace- 
ful and elegant creatures, conspicuous on account of the 
E 
