One of the American parrots which we include in this family reminds us
of the cockatoos, and must be considered as the type of a peculiar tribe
(_Deroptyus_). Linnæus, who was acquainted with it, gave it two distinct
names, the one on account of its sparrow-hawk-like plumage (_Deroptyus
accipitrinus_), the other, because of its frill of elongated feathers
(_Deroptyus coronatus_). We will call it the CRESTED HAWK-PARROT, seeing
that the long feathers on the nape of the neck, which can be raised at
pleasure, distinguish it from other South American species.
The beak is large, strongly but bluntly toothed, and having the ridge
of the upper mandible powerfully hooked and projecting. The cere is
short, and its margin curved like the letter S. The eyes are surrounded
by a broad bare circle; the bluntly-pointed wings reach to the middle
of the tail, the latter being of tolerable length and formed of rounded
feathers, of which the three exterior on both sides are shortly
graduated; the legs are weak, and the toes long. The plumage is on
the whole extremely rich, of a pale yellowish-grey upon the head; the
exterior margin of the forehead is of a brown colour; the crest is
composed of dull blood-red feathers, edged with sky blue. The plumage
on the back is light green, somewhat darker in the middle than on the
sides, and the feathers on the lower part of the body are, as far as they
are visible, blood-red. The sides of the cheeks and the throat are of a
brownish tint; the primaries quite black, and the secondaries similarly
coloured on both sides. The tail is bluish on its upper surface, and
black underneath. Burmeister gives the length of this rare and beautiful
species as being fourteen inches, five and a half of which belong to the
tail; the wing measures seven inches from the shoulder to the tip.
As far as we know at present, this bird prefers dwelling in the wooded
district near Guiana and the River Amazon. Spix found it at Villa Nova,
on the river above-mentioned. Schomburghk mentions it but twice. He
says that he met with it on the Rupununi, and also in the huts of the
Warrau Indians; but though he saw numerous flocks of these magnificent
birds enlivening the palm-trees of Sawari, and greeting passers-by
with piercing cries, and thus had abundant opportunities for making
observations, he tells us extremely little about them. "When angry," he
informs us, "this bird is without doubt one of the most beautiful of the
parrot race, as it then raises the brilliantly tinted feathers on the
back of the neck, until they stand up perpendicularly, thus forming a
flowing circle round the head." The settlers call it "Hia," which word
is supposed to resemble its cry. From the same writer we learn that
this species inhabits the lower woods, approaching the settlements with
confidence, and although easily tamed, is weakly and unteachable. It
makes its nest in the holes of trees, and lays from two to four eggs.