In the valuable drawings of the Doctor, he has one carefully executed,
of a bird considerably larger than this, which he calls the Pied
Bulfinch of the mountains, but which I have supposed to be the present
bird in the partial albinism, to which all black birds seem subject.
There are, however, some details which make this rather uncertain. The
whole plumage, including the red gorge, (which is rather crimson than
ferruginous) is studded with large white patches; beside which there
is a large square spot of white, occupying the middle of the wing: the
outmost two tail-feathers on each side are also white, and the forehead
is pale yellow. Should it prove to be distinct, I propose for it the
name of _Pyrrhula Robinsonii_.
* * * * *
To these _Fringilladæ_, I would add, on the authority of Mr. Hill, the
Rose-breasted Grosbeak of Wilson, (_Guiraca Ludoviciana_, +Sw.+).
+Order.+—SCANSORES. (_Climbers._)
+Fam.+—PSITTACIDÆ. (_The Parrots._)
YELLOW-HEADED MACAW.[74]
? _Ara tricolor_, +Le Vaill.+ pl. 5.
[74] “Basal half of upper mandible black, apical half ash-coloured;
lower mandible black, tip only ash-coloured. Forehead, crown, and
back of neck bright yellow. Sides of face around eyes, anterior and
lateral part of neck, and back, a fine scarlet. Wing coverts and
breast, deep sanguine red. Winglet and primaries, an elegant light
blue. The legs and feet were said to have been black; the tail red
and yellow intermixed.” (Rob.)
If this be not the _Tricolor_ of Le Vaillant, which is the only Macaw I
am aware of marked with a yellow nape, it is probably undescribed. The
two descriptions do not, certainly, agree exactly; yet still I cannot
but think the bird seen by Robinson, whose description I give below,
to be this very rare species. Of the present specimen the Doctor says,
“This bird I saw stuffed. The legs and tail were wanting. It seemed
less than the common Red and Blue Macaw. By what I can judge from this
sample, this bird has never yet either been figured or described.
Sir Henry Moore, late Lieutenant Governor, often assured me that the
Jamaica Macaw was very different from any he had ever seen. The subject
now before us was shot [probably about 1765,] in the mountains of
Hanover parish, about ten miles east of Lucea, by Mr. Odell.”
Latham has attributed _Ara aracanga_ and _ararauna_ to Jamaica; the
former on the authority of Brisson.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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