09 
PATAGONIAN ARAKA. 
Aram Patagonica. — Lesson. 
PLATE IV. 
Psittacus Patagonicus, Azara — Arara Patagonica, Lesson, 
in Dupp. Voy. aulour du Monde, Part Zool. tab. 35. — 
Sittace Patagonica, Wagler, in Abharui. <§•«?., p. 659 Pa- 
tagonian Parrakeet Maccaw, Lears' Parrots. 
This large and fine looking species, whose total 
length is seventeen inches, the tail measuring nearly 
nine, was first described by Azara, and is a native 
of Paraguay, the districts of Buenos Ayres, Pa- 
tagonia, and Chili. In the latter country, it is de- 
scribed as a most abundant species, and is resident 
the whole year, frequenting the hilly and subalpine 
regions during the summer, where it breeds in the 
holes of trees and rocks, but descending as autumn 
approaches to the lower levels, where it congregates 
in immense flocks, and frequently does great injury 
to the produce of the gardens and cultivated fields 
of the inhabitants. It is said to be of a bold and 
fearless disposition, admitting of a near approach, 
which subjects it to be killed in immense numbers 
by those who suffer from its depredations. Like its 
