I 
76 blue and yellow macaw. 
but their tempers can be ruined, and too often are; no bird is proof 
against teasing, which utterly demoralizes them, and soon transforms 
a naturally amiable and gentle bird into something little better than 
a fiend. 
All the Macaws have large beats, whence they were not inappro- 
priately named Macrocerci by Vieillot; but the bird under notice has, 
perhaps, the most formidable bill of all its congeners, as it measures 
no less than three inches and a half from its insertion in the stull to 
its tip, the under mandible is much shorter, but nevertheless of con- 
siderable size, short and massive, and forming a right angle with the 
upper when shut. 
As may be guessed from its name in English this bird is dressed 
in a mantle of deep blue, the forehead, crown, and rump are of the 
same colour but with a greenish shade; the tail feathers and primaries 
are indigo blue, with a violet shade, the cheeks are white, naked, and 
traversed by four narrow zigzag lines, composed of minute black 
feathers; the chin is black, but all the rest of the under surface of 
the body is yellow; the large beak is black, and the feet and legs 
are dark grey; and the under surface of the tail and wings yellow. 
The Blue and Yellow Macaw is a native of Tropical America, but, 
nevertheless, sufficiently hardy when once fairly acclimatised to resist 
the cold of our changeable climate, as he has a warm vest of soft 
down under his robe of blue and yellow feathers. Unlike the preceding 
species this bird is not found in large flocks, but generally in pairs, 
which seem to mate for life, and are models of conjugal affection, 
passing much of their time in caressing and pluming each other: it 
is a wood-loving bird, too, and seldom approaches the settled districts, 
so that it has not made itself so many enemies as many members of 
its race have done. 
The eggs, two in number, are placed in a hole in the trunk of a 
tree, and the young are quite three months before they leave the nest, 
and nearly three years elapse before they are fully grown; from which 
circumstance it may be gathered that they are long-lived birds. The 
sexes share the task of incubation between them, sitting alternately on 
the eggs and young. 
(( “ Tho dimension and form of their wings”, write Selby and Jardine, 
“and long cuneiform tail, indicate a powerful and vigorous flight, and 
accordingly we are informed that in this respect they are inferior to 
none of the tribe, their flight being often at a high elevation, and 
accompanied with a variety of serial evolutions, particularly before 
alighting, which is always upon the summit of the highest trees.” 
It seems peculiar that almost the first words these birds should 
