PARADISEID.E. 



209 



Paradiseid^. 



FAMILY II. 



The Birds of Paradise. 



GrEN. Charac. — Bill long, strong, with the culnien curved and the sides com- 

 pressed to the tip, which is emarginated ; the base of the upper mandible 

 concealed by short feathers, whip h also cover the nostrils ; the wings long 

 and rounded ; the tail of various lengths, even or rounded ; the tarsi robust, 

 long, and covered by a single membrane j the hind toe very long and robust ; 

 the claws long, strong, and curved. 



Fig. 87. — birds op paradise. 

 (Paradisea apoda and P. superba.) 



The most remarkable character of this family 

 consists in the great development, in the males, of 

 some portions of their plumage, usually of the fea- 

 thers of the sides of the body and neck, which often 



