Psittacus militaris, Linn., Russ. Synonyms: Ara militaris, Gr.; Arara militaris, Vll.;

Military macaw.

Psittacus militaris et ambiguus, Kl.; Macrocercus militaris, Jard., Bp.

Sittace militaris, Wgl.

German: Der Soldaten-Arara.

French: L'ara militaire, Vll.

MORE frequently imported than the preceding species, the Military Macaw is nevertheless not a common bird, and we are at a loss to understand the reason that induced so many writers to bestow upon it a soldierly designation which, in our opinion, should have been reserved for his relative the Bed and Blue Macaw; it seemed, however, befitting in the eyes of the great Linnaeus, and subsequent authors have tacitly accepted the master's dictum without question.

This bird is an inhabitant of the northern parts of South America, and extends into Central America; it is rather inferior in size to the Hyacinthine Macaw, but is equally noisy and objectionable in a house: it should be treated in the same manner, and is quite as robust. Jardine states that "it is now ascertained to be a native of Mexico and Peru, inhabiting the warmer districts of the Andean chain, and attaining to an elevation of about three thousand feet", which is surely a colossal stature for even a Macaw.

As the same author states in another place that the Carolina Conure is the only Parrot that is found in North America, we have no alter-• native, especially as he couples the Military Macaw with Mexico, than to conclude that he believed the latter country to form a portion of the southern continent of America, which, however, in view of the date at which he wrote, is quite a pardonable error.

This Macaw has a crimson forehead, and a reddish brown chin; the rest of the head, the neck, lesser wing coverts, the back, and all the under parts of the body are green; the rump and upper tail coverts are blue; the tail is scarlet above, with blue tips, and orange yellow beneath, which is also the colour of the under wing surface. The orbits and cheeks are naked, and of a pinky flesh colour, with four narrow stripes, or bands, of a brownish purple colour upon the latter; the irides are composed of a double circle, the outer of which is bright yellow, and the inner greyish green.

It is rather smaller than most of the Macaws, measuring about twenty-nine inches from beak to tail. Wagler asserts that it differs from most of its congeners in many of its habits; in, for instance, that it frequents cultivated fields, where it does much harm to the growing crops, and where, Cockatoo fashion, it places a guard upon the summits of the surrounding trees to give timely warning of approaching danger; which guard is subsequently fed from the crops of some of the party, who disgorge a portion of the spoils they have carried away, for the benefit of their vigilant sentries.

Wagler also states that these birds are in the habit of feeding upon the blossoms of the Erythinoe, and Thibaudioe; but whether for the sake of the honey they contain, or for the fleshy substance of the flower itself and the embryo seed-vessel, does not clearly appear from his account.

"It is easily tamed", writes Selby, in his History of the Psittacidoe, "and of a docile disposition, but can rarely be taught to articulate more than a few words. It appears to have been a favourite among the ancient Peruvians, as we are told it was frequently presented to the Incas, by their subjects, as an acceptable gift."

Edwards appears to have been the first writer who described this bird, which was figured by him in his Gleanings of Natural History; though ignorant when he wrote of its true habitat, he rightly conjectured it to be an American bird.

Writing of this species, Dr. Buss, in his excellent Handbuch fur Vogelliebhaber, says, " Heimat Nordwesten Sudamerikas und Mittelamerika bis zum Norden Mexicos", though its occurrence in the latter region seems to us to require confirmation.

Like all the Parrot family, with the exceptions already mentioned, these birds breed in hollow trees, making no nest, properly so called, but laying their eggs, restricted to two throughout this group (Mac-rocereince), on the bare wood.

All the Macaws, like the former human inhabitants of their native land, are worshippers of the sun; to judge, that is to say, by the deafening clamour with which they greet the dawn of day. When the great orb of the sun makes its first appearance above the horizon, all of these birds that inhabit the district wake up from their slumbers, and fly, as with one accord, to a common place of rendezvous, generally some decayed patriarch of the forest, whose huge leafless branches seem to furnish them with convenient seats, or rather stands, for the ceremony that is to follow: here, amid the utmost noise and vociferation, they take their stand, facing the rising sun, and display their wings and tails to his genial beams; one might suppose the flock to be engaged in sun-worship; but no, they are merely drying their plumage damped by the heavy dews of night, and their loud conversation is probably nothing more than an expression of their delight at feeling once more dry and warm and comfortable; though, perhaps, they may also be deliberating whither they will proceed to breakfast: the plantation of so and so is very strictly guarded, the crops of some one else have already paid heavy toll, and so on: for when warmed and dried, the Macaws fly off in little parties in search of their favourite food, but meet again in the evening at their accustomed drinking place, and then retire in company to roost for the night.

The hours of feeding, drinking, and reposing are mostly observed with the greatest regularity, so that a person who has watched their habits for a little time, will be able to predict, almost to a minute, their arrival at, or their withdrawal from, a given place which they are known to frequent.

Supposing their toilet to be completed half an hour or so after sunrise, they continue feeding until about 10 a.m., when they fly to the watercourse they frequent to bathe and drink: by the time they have washed and dried themselves again, it is getting on towards noon, and the rays of the sun are descending on the land with almost fiercest power: the Macaws and many other species take shelter from the heat among the densest foliaged trees they can find, and there doze and digest, amid the profoundest stillness until the afternoon, when they pay a second visit to the water and to their feeding-grounds: having satisfied their appetite they retire to the dead tree where they met in the morning, as if to close the day as, apparently, they began it, by some act of homage to the orb of day, and their worship, if such it be, ended, they retire to their usual camping-ground.

During the breeding season, however, the programme of the day is not quite strictly kept; a couple of young Macaws require a good deal of attention, and the parents have to forage far and wide for their support: whether it be the strict habit of this family to have but two young ones at a time, is somewhat doubtful; for it is certain that in captivity, when they do breed, they occasionally have three and four in a brood: we have known as many as seven in one nest, but in that instance they all died, seemingly from inability of the parents to attend to all their wants, for, although they were well supplied with food as a rule, once or twice they did not get exactly what they liked, and when the male, for he is the chief feeder, was relieved of his cares, by the death of the last of the septenniad, he was quite worn by his labours, and scarce looked half his usual size, he was so weak and thin.

"The Macaws", wrote Bechstein, more than a hundred years ago, "are very dear, and are only found in the possession of rich bird-fanciers. Their beautiful plumage forms their principal attraction. In the centre of Germany one costs from fifty to one hundred rix dollars, and in the maritime cities, thirty to forty. They learn to repeat many words, to go and come, and also to obey the least signal from their master: they imitate perfectly the bleating of sheep, the mewing of cats, and the barking of dogs: their custom of drinking only in the evening seems very extraordinary."

Macaws still maintain their price, as we have seen from the sum quoted, as the cost of acquiring one of them, by Dr. Buss: we have seen them drinking in the morning, and at midday as freely as in the evening, so that the habit alluded to by Bechstein must have been peculiar to the individual bird he had under observation when he wrote.

It appears to us that the Military Macaw, if not quite as good a speaker as his Hyacinthine relative, is nevertheless a capable and intelligent bird: and we should like to try and breed him, if only we had a suitable place in which to try the experiment, and we think it would not be difficult with a pair of very tame and healthy birds; but the age of the male would not be of much consequence, as they are of an exceedingly amorous temperament, and retain the fire and passion of youth to quite a considerable age: in the case of the female, however, it is desirable to secure a youthful specimen, as the drain on the system, consequent upon the elaboration of her eggs, would be probably too much for an aged female, who would be almost certain to become egg-bound, or perish in convulsions, as we have unfortunately witnessed more than once.

Given a young female of this, or any other species of Macaw, and a male of any age, provide them with a suitable habitation and appropriate nesting furniture, and we have no doubt they would breed as freely as a pair of Budgerigars or Cockatiels.

We once saw a Red and Yellow male Macaw pair with a female of the Yellow and Blue variety, and we have no doubt that the progeny, had any resulted, would have been capable of reproduction, but the poor birds were, each, chained to a stand, and we do not remember that any eggs were laid; or, if so, they certainly were not incubated.