Psittacus ararauna, Russ. Synonyms: Ara ararauna, Gr., Bp., etc.; Sittace ararauna, Wgl.;

BLUE AND YELLOW MACAW.

Macrocercus ararauna, Auctorum. German : Der gelbrustige blaue Arara.

French: Ara bleu et jaune.

IN the Blue and Yellow Macaw the species last described finds a powerful rival to the throne of Parrotdom, but the bird now under consideration being of less size than the Bed and Blue Macaw, the latter must be looked upon as successfully maintaining his claim to superiority, but as there is no very great difference in size between the two species, a couple of inches in length or thereabouts, it would have been a question of great delicacy to decide between the two claimants for imperial honours, had not the magnificent plumage of the Emperor de facto rendered it comparatively easy to decide in his favour: bright red and deep blue are more striking colours than dark blue and yellow, so that the possessor of the latter uniform is obliged to fall back, and content himself with second place.

The Blue and Yellow Macaw is of less frequent occurrence in the bird market than its more showily-coated relative, but makes quite as amiable and desirable a pet; of the two, it is, perhaps, the most susceptible of education, speaking with great distinctness, if it does not learn to repeat a very lengthened vocabulary: we say "amiable and desirable pet" advisedly, for we know of few more amusing and interesting birds, providing, that is to say, they are taken in hand from the nest, when they become, as we have said, exceedingly tame.

Their tempers are naturally good, at least all the specimens of the several species of Macrocercus with which we have had to do were possessed of a variety of good qualities; they are not, for instance, nearly as excitable as the Cockatoos, or as jealous and spiteful as the Parrots, and they are far more easily tamed than any of the Parrakeets; but their tempers can be ruined, and too often are; no bird is proof against teasing, which utterly demoralizes them, and soon transforms a naturally amiable and gentle bird into something little better than a fiend.

All the Macaws have large beaks, whence they were not inappropriately named Macrocerci by Vieillot; but the bird under notice has, perhaps, the most formidable bill of all its congeners, as it measures no less than three inches and a half from its insertion in the skull to its tip, the under mandible is much shorter, but nevertheless of considerable size, short and massive, and forming a right angle with the upper when shut.

As may be guessed from its name in English this bird is dressed in a mantle of deep blue, the forehead, crown, and rump are of the same colour but with a greenish shade; the tail feathers and primaries are indigo blue, with a violet shade, the cheeks are white, naked, and traversed by four narrow zigzag lines, composed of minute black feathers; the chin is black, but all the rest of the under surface of the body is yellow; the large beak is black, and the feet and legs are dark grey; and the under surface of the tail and wings yellow.

The Blue and Yellow Macaw is a native of Tropical America, but, nevertheless, sufficiently hardy when once fairly acclimatised to resist the cold of our changeable climate, as he has a warm vest of soft down under his robe of blue and yellow feathers. Unlike the preceding species this bird is not found in large flocks, but generally in pairs, which seem to mate for life, and are models of conjugal affection! passing much of their time in caressing and pluming each other: it is a wood-loving bird, too, and seldom approaches the settled districts, so that it has not made itself so many enemies as many members of its race have done.

The eggs, two in number, are placed in a hole in the trunk of a tree, and the young are quite three months before they leave the nest, and nearly three years elapse before they are fully grown; from which circumstance it may be gathered that they are long-lived birds. The sexes share the task of incubation between them, sitting alternately on the eggs and young.

"The dimension and form of their wings", write Selby and Jardine, "and long cuneiform tail, indicate a powerful and vigorous flight, and accordingly we are informed that in this respect they are inferior to none of the tribe, their flight being often at a high elevation, and accompanied with a variety of serial evolutions, particularly before alighting, which is always upon the summit of the highest trees."

It seems peculiar that almost the first words these birds should learn to speak, and which they invariably pronounce more distinctly than any other, should be the dissyllable "Robert": but so it is, and yet we do not think it forms any part of their natural vocabulary: all the Macaws we have known repeat the word Robert very distinctly, and this seems also to have been the case in the time of the authors just quoted, who observe upon this subject: "A very fine one (Blue and Yellow Macaw) is completely domesticated at Dr. Neill's, Canon-mills, near Edinburgh, and allowed the freedom of several apartments; when desirous of being noticed, it calls out "Robert", the name of its earliest master, very distinctly; but it has not acquired more than one other conventional sound."

Several instances are on record in which the Blue and Yellow Macaw has nested and hatched its young in this country and on the continent; and we cannot help thinking that if the birds were more frequently kept in pairs than they are, there would be little or no difficulty in inducing them to breed in an appropriately furnished apartment.

The one great objection to the keeping of all the Macaws is their noise, but this can, by judicious management, be certainly minimised; once a bird has contracted the habit of shrieking, good-bye to peace and quiet, as long as it remains in the house: the obvious remedy being not to permit the bird to acquire the distressing habit, which, once contracted, grows with its growth, and becomes intensified with its increase in years, until at last a parting must take place between bird and owner, and that on the part of the latter in absolute self-defence.

The Blue and Yellow Macaw is an old inhabitant of the aviary, and instances are on record where it has bred in captivity as far back as the year 1818.

M. Lamouroux, who was the owner of these birds, relates their family achievements in the following terms: - "In four years and a half, from the month of March, 1818, to the end of August, 1822, these birds laid sixty-two eggs, in nineteen broods. Of this number, twenty-five eggs produced young ones, of which ten only died. The others lived, and became perfectly accustomed to the climate. They laid eggs at all seasons; and the broods became more frequent and more productive, in the course of time; and in the end much fewer were lost. The number of eggs in the nest used to vary, six having been together at one time; and these Macaws were seen to bring four young ones at once. These eggs took from twenty to twenty-five days to be hatched, like those of our common hens. Their form was that of a pear, a little flattened, and their length equal to that of a Pigeon's egg. It was only between the fifteenth and five and twentieth day that the young ones became covered with a very thick down; soft, and of a whitish slate-grey. The feathers did not begin to make their appearance until towards the thirtieth day, and took two months to acquire their full growth. It was a dozen or fifteen months before the young arrived to the size of their parents, but their plumage had all its beauty from six months old. At three months old they abandoned the nest, and could eat alone; up to this period they had been fed by their father and mother, which disgorged the food from their bill, in the same manner as Pigeons do."

In all probability this successful rearing was owing to the care which was taken in providing the old birds with a suitable nesting-place, which consisted of "a small barrel, pierced, toward a third of its height, with a hole of about six inches in diameter, and the bottom of which contained a bed of sawdust three inches thick, on which the eggs were laid and hatched."

From the above interesting narrative it will be gathered that no material difficulty is to be apprehended by any aviarist who makes up his mind to breed this species of Macaw in captivity. It is true we are not told where the birds were kept, whether in-doors or in a garden aviary; but as they are quite hardy, when acclimatised, we see no reason to doubt the full success of the attempt if made out of doors in a properly constructed and sheltered building, part of which at least should be open to the air and light.

Nor in the matter of food would there be any difficulty in the way of breeding these birds: for their principal diet is corn of various kinds, part of which should be soaked for them when they have young, and bread should be added as well as fruit, and such vegetables as carrots and potatoes; and as all the Macaws fetch a good price, the experiment, if successful, would be a remunerative one.

In-doors it would even be more likely to succeed than out, for in a well-lighted room, where an equable temperature could be maintained all the year round, there is no doubt these birds would keep on rearing brood after brood from January to December, providing they were supplied with a sufficiency of suitable food.

If the Blue and Yellow Macaw breeds in confinement, we see no reason to apprehend that the other species of the sub-family would not do the same; and the reason that they have not done so is that no pains have been taken with them, for they often pair in captivity, and solitary females not unfrequently lay.

The Hon. And Rev. F. G. Dutton's Account Of The Blue And Yellow Macaw (Ara Ararauna)

What Bechstein could have meant by saying that Blue and Yellow Macaws are not good talkers I do not know; I have had four, two cocks and two hens. The hens did not talk, but the cocks did, and one had a talent for talking, such as I have never met with in any other Parrot. It not only picked up things it heard at once, but always in the tone of the person who said it. It was impossible to doubt whom it was imitating; the only doubt, if it was not mimicking oneself, was, was it the Macaw or the persons themselves? I parted with it, however, first because I could not trust its temper, and secondly because it never would leave a bough it had flown to, if it could help it; what may have startled it in its several flights I know not, but had it been left alone, it would several times have starved to death sooner than take wing again. When therefore it had flown out of the garden, it did not, like the others, return when hungry, but always had to be fetched back, and as this gave considerable trouble when it settled high up in a large tree, I got rid of it. I do not think its temper would have been bad, but I put it in the cage with the Bed and Yellow, and it was marital jealousy that made it peck at one. Precisely the same thing happened with the other Blue and Yellow cock bird. He had the best of tempers, any one might do anything they liked with him; but after he was put in the cage with the Bed and Yellow, he made efforts to drive people away. Curiously enough neither of the cock birds was a particularly good flyer, but the two hens were as strong on the wing as Hawks, a hurricane would have been nothing to them, and it was magnificent to see the dashes and turns they would make on the wing. They all four had very different characters: "Frank", the good talker, had evidently left his heart for mankind in Brazil. He made distinctions, but he loved no one. "Bob", the other cock, was, I think, a little "wanting", anyone might do what they pleased with him, and he would come to a coal-scuttle as soon as to his master. "Harry", as one hen was called, was timid and would only come to myself. I parted with her because she would always settle on just the very leaders of my firs, etc. But I always have regretted having done so. Her wing was cut when she made this her practice, and no doubt had I waited till it was quite grown, she would have returned home from her excursions in a more "conve-nable" manner. As for "Jenny", the other hen, she was a splendid specimen, as a bird, but she was the incarnation of greediness and selfishness; she truly "departed" when I got rid of her, "without being desired."

It only remains to say that the Blue and Yellow Macaw is blue on the back, wings, and tail, golden yellow underneath, green on the forehead, and black under the lower mandible; its eyes, and the eyes of the Bed and Yellow, are pearls, and it has the habit of dilating and contracting the pupils like a Paroquet.

They are worth £5 each.