Heads and Necks 



269 



is indescribable, resembling the sheen of emeralds and to- 

 paz, rather than any organic substance. Over the fore_ 

 head is a patch of pure white feathers, which shine like 

 satin; and from the sides of the head spring the six won- 

 derful feathers." 



Fig. 211. — Six-shafted Bird of Paradi.se (a mounted bird). (From a photo- 

 graph provided by the American Museum of Natural History.) 



Head decorations reach the acme of strangeness in 

 the King of Saxony's Bird of Paradise. The bird itself 

 is sombre-hued and small, about the size of our robin, 

 with nothing unusual about its appearance, except for 

 the two streamers springing from opposite sides of the 



