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MACAW

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 197 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MACAW , or, as formerly spelt, MACCAW, the name given to some fifteen or more See also:

species of large, See also:long-tailed birds of the See also:parrot-See also:family, natives of the neotropical region, and forming a very well-known and easily recognized genus Ara, and to the four species of Brazilian Hyacinthine macaws of the genera Anodorhynchus and Cyanopsittacus. Most of the macaws are remarkable for their See also:gaudy plumage, which exhibits the brightest See also:scarlet, yellow, See also:blue and See also:green in varying proportion and often in violent contrast, while a See also:white visage often adds a very See also:peculiar and expressive See also:character.' With one exception the known species of Ara inhabit the mainland of See also:America from See also:Paraguay to See also:Mexico, being especially abundant in See also:Bolivia, where no fewer than seven of them (or nearly one See also:half) have been found (Proc. Zool. See also:Soc., 1879, p. 634). The single extra-See also:continental species, A. tricolor, is one of the most brilliantly coloured, and is peculiar to See also:Cuba, where, according to Gundlach (Ornitologia Cabana, p. 126), its See also:numbers are rapidly decreasing so that there is every See also:chance of its becoming See also:extinct? Of the best known species of the See also:group, the blue-and-yellow macaw, A. ararauna, has an extensive range in See also:South America from See also:Guiana in the See also:east to See also:Colombia in the See also:west, and southwards to Paraguay. Of large See also:size, it is to be seen in almost every zoological See also:garden, and it is very frequently kept alive in private houses, for its See also:temper is See also:pretty See also:good, and it will become strongly attached to those who tend it. Its richly coloured plumage, sufficiently indicated by its See also:common See also:English name, supplies feathers eagerly sought by See also:salmon-fishers for the making of artificial flies. The red-and-blue macaw, A. See also:macao, is even larger and more gorgeously clothed, for, besides the See also:colours expressed in its See also:ordinary appellation, yellow and green enter into its adornment. It inhabits Central as well as South America as far as,Bolivia, and is also a common See also:bird in captivity, though perhaps less often seen than the foregoing.

The red-andyellow species, A. chloroptera, ranging from See also:

Panama to See also:Brazil, is smaller, or at least has a shorter tail, and is not quite so usually met with in menageries. The red-and-green, A. militaris, smaller again than the last, is not unfrequent in confinement, and presents the colours of the name it bears. This has the most northerly See also:extension of See also:habitat, occurring in Mexico and thence southwards to Bolivia. In A. manilata and A. nobilis the prevailing See also:colour is green and blue. The Hyacinthine macaws A. hyacinthinus, A. leari, A. See also:glaucus and Cyanopsittacus spixi are almost entirely blue. The macaws live well in captivity, either chained to a See also:perch or kept in large aviaries in which their strong See also:flight is noticeable. The See also:note of these birds is harsh and screaming. The sexes are This serves to See also:separate the macaws from the long-tailed parakeets of the New See also:World (Conurus), to which they are very nearly allied. a There is some See also:reason to think that See also:Jamaica may have formerly possessed a macaw (though no example is known to exist), and if so It was most likely a peculiar species. See also:Sloane (Voyage, ii. 297), after describing what he calls the " See also:great maccaw " (A. ararauna), which he had seen in captivity in that See also:island, mentions the " small maccaw " as being very common in the See also:woods there, and P. H.

See also:

Gosse (Birds of Jamaica, p. 260) gives, on the authority of See also:Robin-son, a See also:local naturali.it of the last See also:century, the description of a bird which cannot be reconciled with any species now known, though it must have evidently been allied to the Cuban A. tricolor. See also:Macaulay's whole See also:works were collected in 1866 by his See also:sister, See also:Lady Trevelyan, in 8 vols. The first four volumes are occupied by the See also:History; the next three contain the Essays, and the Lives which he contributed to the See also:Encyclopaedia Britannica. In vol. viii. are collected his Speeches, the See also:Lays of See also:Ancient See also:Rome, and some See also:miscellaneous pieces. The " See also:life " by See also:Dean See also:Milman, printed in vol. viii. of the edition of 1858-1862, is prefixed to the " See also:People's Edition " (4 vols., 1863-1864). Messrs. See also:Longmans, Green & Co. published a alike; the lustreless white eggs are laid in hollow trees, usually two at a See also:time. The birds are gregarious but apparently monogamous. (A.

End of Article: MACAW

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