The HYACINTH-COLOURED ARARA (_Anodorhynchus hyazinthinus_) has with
great reason been regarded as the type of a peculiar race, for this
bird differs from the rest of its family in the same way as the Nose
Cockatoo differs from its fellows. The highly curved upper mandible is
of considerable size, and much stronger than in other macaws, with a
sloping, elongated hook at its extremity, which bends in the shape of a
sickle over the under beak. The cheeks are thickly feathered, and only
a small circle round the eyes and another round the under beak is bare.
The plumage is of an uniform ultramarine, the crown, neck, wings, and
tail are more darkly coloured than the throat, breast, and belly; in some
lights it shimmers with pale sky blue. The wings on the lower side, the
inner webs of the wing-feathers, and the under side of the tail, are pale
black; the outermost wing-feathers sprinkled with black. The beak is of a
brilliant black, the feet greyish black, and the eyes brownish black. The
naked place near the eyes, and also a narrow featherless border around
the beak, are dark yellow, lightly powdered. In size, this species is
scarcely inferior to the Macaw; its length is thirty-eight inches, of
which the tail measures twenty-two. The length of the wings is sixteen
inches.
Little is known of the habits of the Hyacinth-coloured Arara; we learn
that it is principally found in the river districts of Rio de Francisco,
and from thence to the Amazon. These birds are not very numerous, and are
constantly seen in pairs instead of flocks. In comparison with the rest
of their family, they have little shyness, and their voices are seldom
heard.
* * * * *
We may consider the PARRAKEETS, or CONICAL-TAILED PARROTS (_Conurus_),
although much smaller, as the next relations to the Araras, from which
they are easily distinguished by the circumstance that their cheeks are
feathered. Some have a bare circle round the eyes, whilst in the smaller
kinds the feathers reach quite to the eyelids. The beak is comparatively
strong, but short and broad; the cere is thickly feathered, and the
nostrils, which are placed in the middle of the forehead, are surrounded
with bristle-like feathers. The plumage is generally green, and
relatively simple; still there are very magnificent species among them.
Such an one is