37 4 ScASSOKES. BIRDS. Psittacid^. 
The other distinctive characters presented by the 
Psittacidoe, besides their prehensile feet and reticrdated 
tarsi, are to be found in the form and structure of the 
bill and tongue. The former is large and strong, with 
the upper mandible much longer than the lower one, 
strongly hooked, and terminating in an acute point. 
The base of the upper mandible is clothed with a cere, 
or naked skin, in which the nostrils are situated. ' The 
tongue is soft and fleshy, and generally terminates in 
a rounded knob, a structure very dilTerent from that 
prevailing in birds generally, and indicating, in all 
probability, a much greater acuteness of the sense of 
taste than usually prevails in this class. 
These birds are found principally in the tropical 
regions of the globe, in some parts of which they 
swarm in prodigious numbers. Their great home is 
the continent of Australia, where they occur in vast 
quantities, and present a great variety of forms ; but 
they are also numerous, both in species and individuals, 
throughout the Eastern islands and India, and many 
species are met rvith in the warmer parts of Africa and 
America. Their notes, especially those of the, larger 
species, are generally harsh and discordant, but they 
make up for this defect in the beauty of their forms, 
and the brilliancy of their plumage, yielding, in the 
latter particular, to few members of their class ; hence 
many of them are frequently imprisoned in cages, and 
some of these are able to add a further accomplish- 
ment to those conferred upon them by nature, by the 
facility with which they learn to speak, and to perform 
various curious and grotesque antics. In a state of 
nature most of the Parrots feed upon fruits, to which 
some add seeds and even nuts, the latter being easily 
broken up by their powerful bills ; a few small species 
live upon the ground, and derive nearly their whole 
sid)sistcnce from the seeds of grasses and other plants. 
They niditicate in holes of trees, which they enlarge to 
suit their purpose by means of their strong gouge-like 
bills. 
THE SCARLET MACCAW {Macrocercus Macao ) — 
Plate 14, fig. 49. — The Maccaws, which arc peculiar to 
the hot regions of South America and the West Indian 
Islands, are at once distinguishable by the enormous 
size of their bills, of which the upper mandible is so 
much curved as to describe nearly a semicircle, and 
also by tlie naked skin, furnished with only a few scat- 
tered and minute feathers, which covers their cheeks. 
Some of these birds are amongst the most splendid 
of their tribe, and the Scarlet or Red and Blue Maccaw 
yields to none of them in magnificence of plumage. It 
is also one of the largest species of its family, some- 
times measuring as much as three feet from the bill to 
the tip of the long tail. The principal portion of the 
plumage of this fine bird is of a bright scarlet colour ; 
the (piill-feathers of the wings are of a fine blue ; the 
greater wing-covei'ts are yellow, tinged with green ; the 
upper and under tail-coverts are blue, the two middle 
feathers of the tail crimson, and the remainder of the 
tail-feathers, which gradually decrease in length towards 
the sides, are partly red and partly blue. The feet are 
dusky black, the naked skin of the cheeks wrinkled and 
white, the upper mandible whitish, and the lower one 
black or dusky. 
This splendid species is an inhabitant of the tropical 
parts of South America ; it was formerly abundant in 
the We.st Indies, but has now become comparatively 
rare in most of the islands. It dwells in pairs or in 
small family parties in the depths of the forests, gener- 
ally taking up its abode about the palm-trees, upon the 
fruits of which it to a great extent subsists. The nest 
of this species is made in a hollow tree, and the bottom 
is lined with feathers. It has two broods in a year, 
and lays two eggs at each time ; these are about the 
size of pigeon’s eggs. The young birds are pretty 
easily tamed, although they do not exhibit the docility 
of many other parrots, and rarely learn to speak even 
indistinctly. The great beauty of their plumage, how- 
ever, causes them to be highly valued, notwithstanding 
the excessive harshness of their cry ; and in former 
times a specimen of this bird was not an unacceptable 
present even to royalty itself. The natives of South 
America give the general name of Ara or Araraca to 
the Maccaws, a denomination which is evidently in 
imitation of their note. 
THE BLUE AND YELLOW MACCAW {Macrocercus 
Ararauna) is another large and beautiful species, mea- 
suring about two feet and a half in length. It has a 
large black bill; the cheeks are covered with a wrinkled 
white skin, which bears a few minute black feathers ; 
the whole upper surface is of a rich and beatitiful blue 
colour, and the lower surface of a fine yellow. The 
throat bears a large black patch. The long and gi’a- 
duated tail is blue above, and yellow beneath. This 
bird, like the preceding, is an inhabitant of the rich 
forest regions of tropical South America, where it is 
especially abundant in marshy places, haunting the 
palm-trees and feeding upon their fruit. It is very 
frequently imported into Europe, and appears to be 
rather more docile than the Scarlet Maccaw. 
THE GREAT GREEN MACCAW {Macrocei XUS milifaris) 
has a large and powerful blackish bill, and flesh-coloured 
cheeks, marked as in the preceding species, with curved 
lines of minute black or brown feathers. The general 
colour of the plumage is a fine green, changing to 
blue on the upper surface ; the forehead bears a 
crimson band ; the wings, rump, and upper tail-coverts 
are bright blue ; and the tail-feathers are scarlet. This 
species is a native of Mexico and the adjoining western 
parts of South America, where it is exceedingly abun- 
dant. In its general habits it resembles the preceding 
species, but not unfrequently descends upon the planta- 
tions, and does much damage, especially to the Indian 
corn-fields, whenever its supply of food in the forest 
falls short. 
THE SMALL GREEN MACCAW {Macrocercus scver^is), 
an inhabitant of Guiana and Brazil, is only about the 
size of a pigeon, measuring seventeen inches in length 
inclusive of the rather elongated tail. In its characters 
it seems to present a transition towards the following 
species, to which the name of Maccaw-parroquets has 
been given. The general colour of this species is green ; 
its bill is black, the naked skin of its cheeks flesh colour ; 
its wings blue, and its tail-feathers tipped and margined 
w'ith blue ; the lower surface of both wings and tail is 
red. In Brazil and Guiana this little maccaw occurs in 
great abundance, and descends in numerous flocks upon 
