BIRD S- OF-PABADISE. 



565 



color. The female is wholly of a drab- color, without tuft or wing- 

 shafts. 



The Magnificent Bird-of-Paradise {Diphyllodes speciosa, Boddaert) 

 is about as large as a thrush. The head, back, tail, and primary wing- 

 feathers, are dark-brown ; the other wing-feathers, yellowish-brown. 

 The breast and belly are of a beautiful purplish green. A circular 

 tuft extends over the hind- neck and shoulders, and is, in the upper 

 part, light yellow, and in the lower parts brown ; this double tuft, on 

 account of its resemblance to leaves, gives to the bird its generic 

 name. The tail is about two inches long, and from its upper part 

 arise two thread-like feathers about ten inches in length, each coiled 

 in a circle about three inches in diameter. The shafts of these feath- 

 ers have, on one side, a narrow web about one-sixteenth of an inch 

 wide, of a beautiful green or violet tint, according to the direction 

 of the lisrht. ♦ 



Superb Bird-of-Paradise {LopJwrina atra). 



The Long-tailed Paradise-Bird [Epimachus magnus) has a tail 

 more than two feet long. It is sometimes called the Superb Plume- 

 Bird, and, with the next species, is included in the same family as the 

 hoopoes. It is a native of New Guinea, and is a most beautiful and 

 lovely creature. Lesson says : " To add to the singularity of this 

 bird, Nature has placed above and below its wings feathers of an ex- 

 traordinary form, and such as one does not see in other birds ; she 

 seems, moreover, to have pleased herself in painting this being, al- 

 ready so singular, with her most brilliant colors. The head, neck, and 

 belly, are glittering green ; the feathers which cover these parts pos- 

 sess the lustre and softness of velvet to the eye and touch ; the back 

 is changeable violet ; the wings are of the same color, and appear, ac- 

 cording to the lights in which they are held, blue, violet, or deep 

 black, always, however, imitating velvet. The tail is composed of 



