MACAW

This article appears in Volume V17, Page 197 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: LUP-MAL

MACAW , or, as formerly spelt, MACCAW, the name given to some fifteen or more species of large, long-tailed birds of the parrot-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 gaudy plumage, which exhibits the brightest scarlet, yellow, blue and green in varying proportion and often in violent contrast, while a white visage often adds a very peculiar and expressive character.' With one exception the known species of Ara inhabit the mainland of America from

Paraguay

PARAGUAY

Mexico

, being especially abundant in Bolivia, where no fewer than seven of them (or nearly one half) have been found (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1879, p. 634). The single extra-continental species, A. tricolor, is one of the most brilliantly coloured, and is peculiar to Cuba, where, according to Gundlach (Ornitologia Cabana, p. 126), its numbers are rapidly decreasing so that there is every chance of its becoming extinct?
Of the best known species of the group, the blue-and-yellow macaw, A. ararauna, has an extensive range in

South

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

America from Guiana in the

east

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

Colombia

COLOMBIA

in the west, and southwards to

Paraguay

PARAGUAY

. Of large size, it is to be seen in almost every zoological garden, and it is very frequently kept alive in private houses, for its temper is pretty good, and it will become strongly attached to those who tend it. Its richly coloured plumage, sufficiently indicated by its common English name, supplies feathers eagerly sought by salmon-fishers for the making of artificial flies. The red-and-blue macaw, A. macao, is even larger and more gorgeously clothed, for, besides the colours expressed in its

ordinary

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

appellation, yellow and green enter into its adornment. It inhabits Central as well as

South

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

America as far as,Bolivia, and is also a common bird in captivity, though perhaps less often seen than the foregoing. The red-andyellow species, A. chloroptera, ranging from Panama to 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 extension of habitat, occurring in

Mexico

and thence southwards to Bolivia. In A. manilata and A. nobilis the prevailing colour is green and blue. The Hyacinthine macaws A. hyacinthinus, A. leari, A. glaucus and Cyanopsittacus spixi are almost entirely blue.
The macaws live well in captivity, either chained to a

perch

or kept in large aviaries in which their strong flight is noticeable. The note of these birds is harsh and screaming. The sexes are
This serves to separate the macaws from the long-tailed parakeets of the New World (Conurus), to which they are very nearly allied.
a There is some reason to think that Jamaica may have formerly possessed a macaw (though no example is known to exist), and if so It was most likely a peculiar species. Sloane (Voyage, ii. 297), after describing what he calls the "

great

GREAT

maccaw " (A. ararauna), which he had seen in captivity in that island, mentions the " small maccaw " as being very common in the woods there, and P. H. Gosse (Birds of Jamaica, p. 260) gives, on the authority of Robin-son, a local naturali.it of the last 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.
Macaulay's whole works were collected in 1866 by his sister, Lady Trevelyan, in 8 vols. The first four volumes are occupied by the History; the next three contain the Essays, and the Lives which he contributed to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. In vol. viii. are collected his Speeches, the Lays of Ancient Rome, and some miscellaneous pieces. The " life " by Dean Milman, printed in vol. viii. of the edition of 1858-1862, is prefixed to the " People's Edition " (4 vols., 1863-1864). Messrs.

Longmans

LONGMANS

, Green & Co. published a
alike; the lustreless white eggs are laid in hollow trees, usually two at a time. The birds are gregarious but apparently monogamous. (A. N.)

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