Page 65
September 1848
Patos on the Tocantíns
We remained here two days; Mr. Leavens going up the igaripé to look for cedar, while we remained hunting for birds, insects and shells. I shot several pretty birds, and saw for the first time, the beautiful blue macaws, which we had been told we should meet with up the Tocantíns. They were entirely of an fine indigo-blue, with a whitish beak; but they flew very high, and we could not find their feeding place.
Page 75
The next day we left the land of the blue macaw without a single specimen. From this place to the Falls we had seen them every day, morning and evening, flying high over the river. At almost every house feathers were on the ground, showing that this splendid bird is often shot for food. Alexander once had a chance at them, but his gun missed fire, and they immediately flew off. Lower down the river they are scarcely seen and never below Baião, while from this place they are very abundant. What can be the causes which so exactly limit the range of such a strongly-flying bird? It appears with the rock, and with this there is no doubt a corresponding change in the fruits on which the birds feed.
Page 372
Between mouth of Rio Branco and Manaus
12th May 1852
At a sitio, in the evening, I bought two parrots, and the next morning, at Ayrão, five more; and in the afternoon, at another sitio, a blue macaw, a monkey, a toucan and a pigeon.
Page 475
Zoology of the Amazon District
E. Geographical distribution of animals
The fine blue macaw (Macrocercus Maximilanus?) inhabits the borders of the hilly country south of the Amazon, from the sea-coast probably up to the Madeira. Below Santarem, it is sometimes found close up to the banks of the Amazon, but is said never to cross that river. Its headquarters are the upper waters of the Tocantíns, Xingú and Tapajoz rivers.
Articles
Latest News
-
Sunday 13th October 2024
Cromwell Purchase reports briefly on Spix’s Macaw project
Cromwell Purchase has just published an up-to-date on the Spix’s Macaw project in Brazil. he writes " We are monitoring 11 in the wild, so 10 left of the original 20 released in 2022, one had to be returned to captivity because of its behavi ... Read More »
Quotes
" Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret "
( If you drive out nature with a pitchfork, she will soon find a way back)
Horace (65-8 BC)