Macaw

“ It possessed a pair of strong wings, which, when strongly and boldly spread, could carry it clear across the lagoa. Conscious of this superior power, it did not stay long upon the trees, to mingle its chattering with the screams of the coaita. Before the swimmers had made a hundred strokes, the macaw mounted into the air, flew for a while hoveringly above them, as if selecting its perch, and then dropped upon the negro’s head, burying its claws in his tangled hair. ”

“ I was walking there on the quay, when at the door of a bird-fancier's shop I saw a green monkey and a blue and yellow macaw. The monkey put its paw through the bars of its cage and caught hold of my coat, while the blue parrot turned its head and looked at me in such an affectionate manner that I stopped, holding the monkey's paw with one hand, and scratching the parrot's head with the other. The little monkey gently drew my hand within reach of her mouth, the parrot half shut its eyes and made a little purring noise to express its pleasure. ”

“ Several trees floated on the borders covered with water-fowl, among which were many ducks and ciganas, while amid the lofty branches of the living forest flew numerous macaws of a red, green, and yellow species, and one of the small flock of the still more beautiful blue macaw, appeared to add their lovely tints to the landscape. Such was the scenery through which we passed during the greater part of the day. Had we felt sure about the safety of our family, how much more should we have enjoyed it. Our anxiety again increased. We had good reason to be anxious about ourselves. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The screams of the araruna were instantly answered by the little paroquet in a tiny treble, but equally in accents of terror, while both the coaita and ouistiti, chattering in alarm, came bounding up the tree. The paroquet had already joined the macaw, and, as if in imitation of its great congener, flew fluttering among the top branches, in a state of the wildest excitement! Guided by the birds, that kept circling around one particular spot, the boy at length discovered the cause of the alarm; and the sight was one calculated to stir terror. ”

“ A curious human figure (Pl. 24, fig. 19) , with a head decoration similar to the frontal curve and markings on the quetzal glyphs (fig. 14-16) , may possibly represent this bird in some relation.
Blue Macaw (Ara militaris) . A large macaw (Maya, mox or ṭuṭ) is undoubtedly pictured in the figures in Pl. 25. The least conventionalized drawing found is that shown in Dresden 16c (Pl. 25, fig. 2) , a bird characterized by long narrow tail feathers, a heavy bill, and a series of scale-like markings on the face and about the eye. Further conventionalized drawings are found in Pl. ”

“ I have been informed by those who have noticed the bird on the wing, that although the Macaws are never seen but flying extremely high, their great size, and their splendid length of tail, brilliant with intense scarlet, and blue and yellow, strikingly attract attention, if their harsh scream, heard in the hushed mountain solitudes, does not betray them. They fly from one ridge to another, journeying in pairs, and have been followed by the eye till they have alighted on the loftiest of the forest trees, in their chosen resting places. ”

“ To the former belong true parrots, parroquets, and macaws. The first are rarely seen walking, but are rapid flyers and expert climbers. On the trees they are social as monkeys, but in flight they always go in pairs. The parroquets go in flocks. The Hyacinthine macaw (the Araruna of the natives) is one of the finest and rarest species of the parrot family. It is found only on the south side of the Amazon. The macaw was considered sacred by the Maya Indians of Yucatan, and dedicated to the sun. The Quichuans call it guacamayo, guaca meaning sacred. Of toucans there are many species ”

“ We have a large blue macaw—Quentin calls him a polly-parrot—who lives in the greenhouse, and is very friendly, but makes queer noises. He eats bread, potatoes, and coffee grains.
The children have a very cunning pony. He is a little pet, like a dog, but he plays tricks on them when they ride him.
He bucked Ethel over his head the other day. ”

“ The next day we left the land of the blue macaw without a single specimen. From this place to the Falls we had seen them every day, morning and evening, flying high over the river. At almost every house feathers were on the ground, showing that this splendid bird is often shot for food. Alexander once had a chance at them,76 but his gun missed fire, and they immediately flew off. Lower down the river they are scarcely ever seen, and never below Baião, while from this place up they are very abundant. What can be the causes which so exactly limit the range of such a strong-flying bird? ”

“ The name Macaw is applied to Ara and its nearest allies, Love-bird to Agapornis and Psittacula, Parakeet to Platycercus and Palaeornis, Lorikeet to Loriculus, Charmosyna, and Coriphilus, Lory to Eclectus, Trichoglossus, Lorius, Chalcopsittacus, and Eos, King Lory to Aprosmictus.
Parrots usually feed and roost in company, though in Eclectus the habits are said to be more solitary; the males are, however, monogamous, each courting a single female, which twitters and rolls the head from side to side when love-making. ”

“ The beautiful bird, the portrait of which is prefixed to the present article, is one of the rarest of its tribe, and has until very lately been confounded by ornithologists with the Hyacinthine Macaw, a fine but much less splendid species. ”

“ It is common to add to the wing two fibres of blue macaw, one on each side, and to tie them properly the silk should be reversed by passing it under the gut, as directed for tying simple wings. Care and experience are requisite to the selection of a handsome mixed wing, and fibres{209} of mallard or wood duck, plain or dyed, are usually a component part. Delicate feathers produce a finer effect than coarse ones. ”

“ In the course of years of almost constant hunting one is compelled to have some very peculiar and unusual experiences. One of these occurred at Malena, Colombia, when the wounded macaw entered our room. Another took place at and near Vermejo. The evening before starting back to Samaipata, we noticed a flock of swifts soaring high above the hut. Boyle and I grabbed our shotguns and each took a quick shot before the birds disappeared; my companion scored a clean hit ”

“ The macaws, parrots, and other fruit-eating birds, are fonder of the nuts of the pupunha than perhaps any other species; and so, too, would be the fruit-eating quadrupeds if they could get at them. But the thorny trunk renders them quite inaccessible to all creatures without wings, excepting man himself. No; there is one other exception, and that is a creature closely allied to man, I mean the monkey. ”

“ How it had happened, to this day I know not, but suspended by a long string from the top of his cage hung Brutus quite dead, evidently strangled. One end of the string still fastened together a portion of the roof of his wooden prison; the other end was 172tightly wound round and round his little gray throat.
I have never kept another monkey. They are too human.
The only other member of my happy family that I brought home to England was the Brazilian macaw, which I have already mentioned. Arara is, without exception, the most beautiful and by far the most intelligent bird I have ever seen. ”

“ Altogether, something like 170 kinds of parrots have been enumerated as inhabiting various parts of the globe, and there are, naturally, great variations in size, plumage, and powers in the different species. In size they range from birds not much bigger than a thrush to others such as the great green macaw, and the red and blue macaw, which measure forty inches in length, the tail alone being nearly two feet long. ”

“ The Scarlet Macaw is sought after with equal zeal both by white men and natives; and the European sportsman rejoices when a well-directed shot puts him in possession of one of these magnificent birds. "Carefully," says the Prince von Wied, "and concealed by thick bushes or trees, the hunter creeps towards them, and sometimes brings down several at one shot. If wounded, the bird clings to the branches by its strong beak and claws, often hanging a long time in that position. ”

“ The noises of the forest animals begin just as the sun sinks behind the trees, leaving the sky above of the intensest shade of blue. The briefest possible twilight commences, and the sounds of multifarious life come from every quarter. Troops of howling monkeys, from their lofty habitations among the topmost branches—some near, some at a distance—fill the echoing forest with their dismal noise; flocks of parrots and blue macaws pass overhead, the different kinds of cawing and screaming of the various species making a terrible discord. ”

“ It was most amusing to walk along the quay, and look at all the live creatures that were there exposed for sale. Such a chattering of monkeys of all shapes and sizes, such a twittering and singing from every imaginable species of small birds, such a screaming and chattering from the parrots and macaws, and such fun in peeping into the cages of white mice and ferrets. We often wished very much to buy a monkey; but Mamma did not fancy it, and said they were uncertain ill-tempered beasts, and that we should be constantly bitten if we had one. ”

“ At early dawn the animal creation awakes with a scream. Pre-eminent are the discordant cries of monkeys and macaws. As the sun rises higher, one musician after another seeks the forest shade, and the morning concert ends at noon. In the heat of the day there is an all-pervading rustling sound, caused by the fluttering of myriad insects and the gliding of lizards and snakes. At sunset parrots and monkeys resume their chatter for a season, and then give way to the noiseless flight of innumerable bats chasing the hawk-moth [Pg 206] and beetle. ”

“ In the summer they make their way to the northern regions in large flocks, and build their nests together, being of a very sociable disposition.
The Carolina Parrot.
While viewing the birds of North America, we cannot pass by the well-known, handsome Carolina parrot, which is, notwithstanding its common name, a species of macaw. Large numbers of these beautiful birds are seen winging their way in compact bodies through the Southern States, flying with great rapidity and uttering a loud outrageous scream, not unlike that of the red-headed woodpecker. ”

“ I'm sure we're not noisy. They haven't got green heads and red tails; I don't see what they think so much of themselves for! Well, I'm glad they've gone! If they'd come near me, I'd have given them a bite! Silly things! Squawk-k-k!"
The Macaw with the apple was still very sad. No one took any notice of him, and no one would tell him who had bitten his precious apple. All at once, it slipped out of his claw and fell on to the ground. He tried to reach it, but the chain which tied him to his perch was not long enough, and he couldn't get it. ”

“ As for cockatoos, parrots, and macaws, I am convinced they are an endless source of amusement to the monkey tribe, who pelt them with nuts to make them scream and scold. Monkeys have a great flow of animal spirits: this, with their imitative talent and quick observation, renders them capable of entertaining ludicrous impressions. ”

“ In their wild state they always made going to bed a particularly noisy function, and they keep up in captivity the good old customs of their forefathers. For one thing the macaws are of a clamorous kind, and they are still awake ”

“ The sounds, when first heard, were at some distance; but before twenty could have been counted, they were uttered close to the ears of the Mundurucú, who was highest up, while the sun became partially obscured by the outspread wings of a score of great birds, hovering in hurried flight around the top of the seringa. There was no mystery about the matter. The new-comers were the parents of the young macaws—the owners of the nests—returning from a search for provender for their pets, whose piercing cries had summoned them in all haste to their home. ”

“ Some (as the macaws) are larger than the domestic fowl, and some of the parakeets are not larger than a blackbird or even a sparrow.
The interesting bird of which our Engraving gives a representation was recently brought alive to this country by the captain of a South-seaman (the Alert) , who obtained it from a Chinese vessel from the Island of Papua, to whom the captain of the Alert rendered valuable assistance when in a state of distress. In size this bird is one of the largest of the parrot tribe, being superior to the great red Mexican Macaw. ”

“ The macaws fly in couples, and have a shrill disagreeable shriek, and bite severely; their bill being very hard and sharp, which is of great use to them in climbing: they are easily tamed, and may be taught to speak like other parrots. The Indians frequently bring them to Paramaribo, where they part with them for a bottle of rum, or for a few fish-hooks.
This evening arrived sick, from the head-quarters at the estate Crawasibo in Comewina, Colonel Texier, the commanding officer of the Society troops. ”