The ARARAUNA (_Ara Sittace Ararauna_) is a very well-known bird, not
inferior to any of the preceding in magnificence. The body is somewhat
smaller, the tail, on the contrary, longer, than in the Scarlet Macaw; it
may be reckoned as thirty-seven inches long, of which quite twenty inches
belong to the tail; the wing measures twenty inches from the shoulder
to the tip. The eye is greenish white, the beak and shoulder black. The
forehead, a great part of the tail, and also a ring round the throat,
are green. This colour changes above into light blue, whilst the under
side is of the colour of the yolk of an egg; the same is the case with
the tail. The upper and under tail-covers are blue. The outer webs of the
wings are darker, those of the inner webs almost black, but only on their
upper surface, for the under side shades off into dull yellow; the same
is the case with the tail-feathers. The lower part of the face is more
darkly coloured than the upper throat; the chin is almost black, the bare
cheeks are white, with three rows of blackish feathers.
* * * * *
According to the statements of travellers, the habits of the Araraunæ are
very similar to those of the Scarlet Macaw. The extent of country over
which they are found is not exactly known. Schomburghk saw them sitting
in considerable numbers on trees upon the banks of the Rio Takutu. They
are seldom found on the eastern coast, and have long been driven from the
inhabited districts.