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NATURAL HISTORY. 

 Family II. Paradiscukc. 



PARADISEA. (Gr. Hapadetoog, a pleasure-ground.) 



Apoda (Gr. 'A-rrovc;, without feet), (he Emerald Bird of Paradise, 



"Which, like a bird of Paradise, 

 Or herald's martlet, has no legs." 



This most gorgeous and elegant bird was once the subject 

 of much discussion between naturalists. The natives of New 

 Guinea were accustomed to dry them, having first cut off their 

 legs, and then to offer them for sale. In this footless state they 

 reached Europe, where it was immediately stated that the bird 

 lived always in the air, buoyed up by the lightness of its feathery 

 covering ; that the shoulders were used as its nest ; that the 

 only rest it took was by suspending itself from a branch by the 

 filamentary feathers of the tail ; that its food was the morning 

 dew ; together with many other conjectures not less ingenious 

 than amusinsr. 



