The Lesser Antillean macaw (Ara guadeloupensis) was a parrot of the Guadeloupe islands. There are no conserved specimens, but this macaw is known from several contemporary accounts, and the bird is the subject of some illustrations. Austin Hobart Clark made a species description based on these accounts in 1905. A phalanx bone from the island of Marie- Galante confirmed the existence of a similar-sized macaw predating the arrival of humans, and was correlated with the Lesser Antillean macaw in 2015. According to contemporary descriptions, the body was red, the wings were red, blue and yellow, and the solid red tail feathers were between 38 and 51 cm (15 and 20 in) long; apart from the tail feathers and its smaller size, this description matches the scarlet macaw. These accounts also said that it ate fruit (including the poisonous manchineel), nested in trees and laid two eggs once or twice a year. Although it was said to be abundant in Guadeloupe, by 1760 it was becoming rare and was soon eradicated, probably by disease and hunting.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_Antillean_macaw
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville made the oldest known recording of an audible human voice, when he recorded himself singing "Au clair de la lune" (audio featured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard-L%C3%A9on_Scott_de_Martinville
1866:
The Civil Rights Act of 1866, the United States' first federal law to affirm that all citizens are equally protected by the law, was enacted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1866
1940:
During the German invasion of Norway, Vidkun Quisling seized control of the government in a Nazi-backed coup d'état. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling
1948:
Fighters from the Zionist paramilitary groups Irgun and Lehi attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, killing over 100. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deir_Yassin_massacre
2003:
Invasion of Iraq: Coalition forces captured Baghdad and the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square was toppled. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firdos_Square_statue_destruction
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
sully: 1. (transitive) To soil or stain; to dirty. 2. (transitive) To corrupt or damage. 3. (intransitive) To become soiled or tarnished. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sully
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
"Life is like a sewer — what you get out of it depends on what you put into it." It's always seemed to me that this is precisely the sort of dynamic, positive thinking that we so desperately need today in these trying times of crisis and universal brouhaha. --Tom Lehrer https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer