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THE SCARLET MACAW (Ara Macao).
The Anakans search the woods for fruit, and very often do great damage to the maize; their flight is astonishingly rapid, and their voice loud and harsh, but shriller and weaker than that of the large Araras. When a party of these birds is perched upon a tree, they utter soft, strange notes, as though talking together, the sound resembling the murmur of conversation. The male and female often sit in pairs on the high branches. The flesh of this bird is much esteemed, both by natives and Europeans, and, indeed, is excellent.
In the Macaws we have been describing, the prevailing colour of the upper feathers is a more or less bright green; but in the following genera blue predominates.