Lo designa como: “The Cuban Macaw, a fine red and yellow species, began to disappear early. It apparently never was widespread, and I know of no tradition that it ever was found in Oriente. I was told in Guane that no Macaws were seen in western Pinar del Rio after the great hurricane of 1844. There were still a few in the Zapata Swamp until about 1850. Gundlach collected a number of birds from the last band which came regularly to feed in a small group of paraiso trees in the yard or batey of the colonia at Zarabanda. These trees are still standing, and I have talked with an aged planter who was with Gundlach when he shot his last pair. One of these, and a couple of Cuban Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, Gundlach took with him to Porto Rico when he left Cuba during the early years of the Ten Years' War. As is well known, he was in very straightened circumstances, and, being scrupulously careful in repaying favors, he gave his birds, when he returned to Cuba, to an apothecary named Blanco, who had befriended him. This Macaw is beyond doubt the one secured for the United States National Museum after the American Occupation. The Woodpeckers, I believe, are now in the American Museum of Natural History in New York. There is a second Macaw in the Museum in Washington, and one in the Museum of Comparative Zoology (no. 72,526), which formerly was in the Lafresnaye collection. It is in fine condition, but has one wing clipped, which suggests that it was a cage-bird secured in France. I know of but a single specimen now in Cuba. This is in the Gundlach collection in Havana. The bird formerly in the cabinet of the Havana Academy of Sciences disappeared a few years ago, and gossip has it that, having been surreptitiously extracted, it found its way to a famous private collection abroad. There was said to have been another in the excellent little Museum in Cardenas, but this probably has been destroyed by insect pests, as also the bird formerly in the Matanzas Institute.
“Gundlach described how the peasants would locate a pair nesting in a hollow palm and then wait until the young were well grown. These were caught after cutting down the palm. Thus it is probable that a good many may have found their way to Europe as pets. The adults were killed to eat, and were said to have been stupid and slow to take flight when approached.
“Gundlach collected no specimens in the Isle of Pines, and the records for that island rest upon tradition only, albeit a reasonably credible one.” |
