Part 16

THE DEEP BLUE MACAW.

ANODORHYNCHUS MAXIMILIANI. SPIX.

The second Order of Birds, which comprehends both the Picæ and Passeres of Linnæus, is essentially distinguished from the rest of the class by the structure of the feet, which are formed for perching. Those of the Scansorial tribe in particular, to which all the species to be here noticed belong, have two of the toes directed forwards, and the remaining two directed backwards, in such a manner as to enable them to grasp the branch of a tree or other similar objects with peculiar firmness, and consequently to climb with more than usual agility. This section comprehends some of the most gorgeously coloured and splendid among birds, as well as those which evince the highest degree of intelligence, in the imitation especially of the human voice, for which they have been celebrated from the earliest times.

The beautiful bird, the portrait of which is prefixed to the present article, is one of the rarest of its tribe, and has until very lately been confounded by ornithologists with the Hyacinthine Macaw, a fine but much less splendid species. It is figured by M. Spix in his Brazilian Birds under the name which we have adopted; but is there given without either characters or description. Its claim to generic distinction would seem to depend on the excessive length and powerful curvature of its claws and upper mandible, and on the slight developement of the toothlike process of the latter. Its colour is throughout of a deep and brilliant blue; the beak, legs, and claws, are black; and the cere and a naked circle round each of the eyes are of a bright yellow. Our specimen measures two feet four inches from the top of the head to the extremity of the tail, and the expansion of his wings is four feet. The length of the upper mandible is five inches, and that of the lower, two.

THE BLUE AND YELLOW MACAW.

MACROCERCUS ARARAUNA. VIEILL.

The genus Macrocercus is characterized by the robustness of its beak, which is extremely broad and powerful; by the nakedness of its face, which is sometimes entirely bare, and sometimes partially covered with lines of short and scattered feathers; and by the size and form of its tail, which is longer than the body, regularly graduated, and terminating in an acute apex. The whole of the species are American, and are remarkable for the brilliancy of their colours, which are perhaps more varied and more gaudy than those of any of the other modern divisions of the Linnean genus Psittacus. They are consequently more sought after as objects of luxury and elegance, and bear a higher comparative value than the rest of the Parrots. In common with the entire tribe, they inhabit the tropical regions of the earth, and live chiefly upon fruits and seeds. Among the latter they uniformly give the preference to such as are provided with a hard and shelly covering. These they crack with great dexterity, carefully rejecting the outer coat, and swallowing only the internal nut.

The Blue and Yellow Macaw is one of the finest of the group. The whole of its upper surface is covered with plumage of the most beautiful azure; the feathers of the under parts on the contrary are of a brilliant yellow. The naked part of the cheeks, which are white slightly tinged with flesh colour, is ornamented with three lines of minute blackish feathers; and the throat is surrounded by a broad collar of greenish black. The forehead is yellowish green.

THE YELLOW-CRESTED COCKATOO.

PLYCTOLOPHUS SULPHUREUS. VIEILL.

The Cockatoos have a strong, broad, and well curved beak; their eyes are surrounded by a naked space; their tail is short, square, and equal at the end; and their head is furnished with a remarkable crest of long and slender feathers, which may be raised or depressed at will, and are frequently of a different colour from the rest of the plumage. This latter character forms the most distinguishing mark of the group, which is partly indigenous to India and the Indian Islands, and partly to Australia. They are fond of damp and marshy situations, and usually inhabit the neighbourhood of rivers or of smaller streams, in which they indulge themselves with frequent bathing, a practice in which, even in captivity, they seem, in common with many others of the tribe, to take a particular pleasure. Like the rest of the Parrots they live entirely on vegetable substances, and chiefly upon seeds; some of them, however, are said to feed upon roots. Their usual nourishment, in a domesticated state, is the same with that of the other Parrots, consisting generally of nothing more than hemp-seed, from which they detach the outer covering with much adroitness. They have also a great relish for sweetmeats and pastry.

The present species is pure white throughout, with the exception of its crest, the longer feathers of which are bright yellow; and of the under surface of the wings and tail, which are straw-coloured, as are also occasionally the cheeks. The beak is nearly black. It is a native of the Moluccas, and is not unfrequently brought to Europe. It is remarkably intelligent, and becomes attached to those who show it kindness.

THE EMEU.

DROMICEIUS NOVÆ HOLLANDIÆ. VIEILL.

The New Holland Emeu, as well as the Ostrich and the Cassowary, to both of which it is nearly related, is now generally regarded as belonging to the Rasorial Order, the Gallinaæ of Linnæus, the feet of which are formed for running and for scratching up the earth in search of the seeds which constitute their usual subsistence. Some of the birds, however, which are referred to it, and particularly those now under consideration, feed upon fruits and roots. The whole of the Order are distinguished by a certain degree of convexity on the upper surface of the bill, the base of which is enveloped by a membrane, in which are situated the nostrils covered by a cartilaginous scale; by the muscular plumpness of their bodies, and especially of their legs; by the shortness of their wings, and the diminution of strength in their pectoral muscles; and by the thickness and strength of their anterior toes, generally three in number, united at the base alone by a connecting membrane, and roughened beneath. These characters conjoined sufficiently indicate that their proper place of abode is the surface of the earth, on which they are enabled to run with a greater or less degree of speed; and that the air, in which they are incapable of elevating themselves to any considerable height, or of propelling their flight with more than moderate swiftness, and into which some of them cannot even raise themselves at all, is an uncongenial element to which they can seldom resort. They furnish the principal and most useful breeds of our domestic poultry, and stock our farm-yards with their most valuable inhabitants.

The distinctive generic characters of the New Holland Emeu, which forms part of the Ostrich family, and is, with the sole exception of the Ostrich, the largest bird known to exist, consist in the flattening of its bill from above downwards, instead of from side to side; in the absence of the bony process which crests the head of the Cassowary, of the wattles which depend from his neck, and of the long spurlike shafts which arm his wings; and in the equal, or nearly equal, length of all his claws. The Emeus, however, agree with the Cassowaries in the number of their toes, three on each foot, all of them directed forwards and extremely thick and short, the posterior toe, which is common to most of the Order, being in them entirely wanting; in the excessive shortness of their wings, which do not even, as is the case with the Ostriches, assist them in running, much less in flight, of which, in common with the latter, they are absolutely incapable; and in the structure of their feathers, which are for the most part double, each tube being divided near its origin into two shafts, the barbs of which are soft, downy, and distinct from each other, and assume at a distance rather the appearance of a silky covering of hair than that of the common plumage of birds.

The New Holland bird has the head and upper part of the neck thinly covered with slender black feathers; the space around the ears alone being left bare, and exhibiting, as well as the neck and throat, which are but partially concealed by the scattered plumage with which they are provided, the blue tinge of the skin. The general colour of the plumage is grayish brown above, with a more plentiful intermixture of the gray and a consequent lighter tinge beneath. The young are striped longitudinally with brown and gray. Their bill is black, and their legs are remarkably thick and of a dull brown. The great length of the latter and of the neck, and the erect attitude and quiet demeanour of these birds, which sometimes attain as much as seven feet in height, give them altogether a noble and imposing appearance. They were formerly common in the neighbourhood of Botany Bay, subsisting, like the rest of their tribe, upon vegetable substances, chiefly fruits. They are extremely wild, and run with great swiftness when pursued, outstripping it is said the fleetness of the greyhound. Like the Kanguroos, they are sometimes hunted by the colonists as articles of food; and their flesh is stated to have much of the flavour of beef. The quantity of provision supplied by one of these birds is by no means inconsiderable.

The animals of the part of New Holland from which these birds are derived appear in general to suffer little from their transportation to the climate of England. The Emeus, like the Kanguroos, have become to a certain extent naturalized in the Royal Park at Windsor, where they breed without difficulty and with no extraordinary precautions. Here they have assigned to them a sufficient space of ground to take ample exercise; and this circumstance contributes not a little to the thriving condition in which they are met with. They are perfectly harmless unless when irritated or pursued, in which case they sometimes strike very severe blows with their beaks, which are extremely hard. The pair in the Tower were obtained from this establishment, where they were bred.

THE CROWNED CRANE.

ANTHROPOIDES PAVONINUS. VIEILL.

The fourth Order of Birds, the Waders, are strikingly characterized by the great length of their legs, the lower part of which is entirely bare of feathers; a peculiarity which is of essential service by enabling them to stand for a long time in the water without injury to their plumage, watching for the fish and reptiles, of which the larger species, and the worms and insects, of which the smaller among them, make their usual prey.

The beautiful birds represented above, which formed part of the Linnean genus Ardea, since subdivided into numerous distinct groups, offer the following generic characters. Their bill is conical, pointed, scarcely longer than the head, and grooved along its upper surface; their head is ornamented with a crest of long and slender filamentous feathers, capable of being raised and depressed at pleasure; their wings are large and powerful; their legs are covered with large scales; the outer and middle toes are united at the base; and their claws are short and without denticulations.

The Crowned Crane is remarkable for its light and elegant proportions, and for its graceful and varied attitudes. Its forehead is covered by a thick tuft of short velvety feathers of a soft and brilliant black; its naked cheeks and temples are of a delicate rose colour; and the yellow filaments of its crest terminate in blackish pencils. The long and slender feathers which descend upon its neck, and the broader ones which clothe the upper and under surface of its body are black with a slight tinge of lead-colour; the primary wing-feathers are also black, the secondary reddish-brown, and the wing-coverts white. The bill and legs are black. It is a native of Western Africa; is extremely tame, and may be readily domesticated. It frequently attains the height of four feet.

THE PELICAN.

PELECANUS ONOCROTALUS. LINN.

The Pelican affords an excellent illustration of the fifth and last Order of Birds, the Swimmers; the essential character of which consists in the membranous union of the toes, which renders them what is usually termed web-footed, and enables them to propel themselves upon the surface of the water with greater or less rapidity in proportion to the greater or less comparative extent of the membrane in which their toes are enveloped. They are all consequently inhabitants of marshy situations, of the banks of rivers and lakes, or of the seacoast; and most of them seek their subsistence in their most congenial element, the water, notwithstanding that by far the greater number of them are also endowed with very considerable powers of flight.

Linnæus united under the common title of Pelicans, the Cormorants, the Boobies, and several other birds, which differ from the typical species of the genus by many important characters, the chief point of agreement between them consisting in the form and extent of the membrane which unites the toes. The Linnean group has subsequently been raised to the rank of a family, and its component parts form several distinct genera, that which comprehends the true Pelicans, the genus Onocrotalus of Brisson, being characterized as follows. Their bill is of very great length, straight, broad, flattened above, and terminated by a slight hook; the lower mandible consists of two lateral branches, united at the point, and having interposed between them a membranous pouch capable of very great dilatation; their four toes are all enveloped to the very apex in the common membrane; their legs are short, strong, and maintain the body in a state of equilibrium, their lower part being entirely destitute of feathers.

With the exception of the quill-feathers of the wings, which are black, the plumage of the Pelican in the Tower is throughout of an extremely light and delicate flesh-colour, varied only by occasional darker tinges. The head and upper part of the neck are clothed with a short down, except on the temples, which are naked and flesh-coloured; the upper mandible is of a dull yellow in the middle, with a reddish tinge towards the edges, and a blood-red spot on its curved extremity; and the pouch is of a bright straw-colour.