288 Mr. A. R. Wallace on (he Ornitlwlugy 



excessive wet, and by having only a single gun good for any- 

 thing. During the first two months, which I spent at Mukaon 

 the S. coast of the island, I obtained only two males of P. rubra. 

 I afterwards visited the district of Bessir, where there are a few 

 natives who catch the birds and prepare the skins, and obtained 

 a very fine series in this locality. 



The P. rub-a is obtained in quite a different manner from the 



allied species of Aru and New Guinea. It is always caught 



alive by snares placed on the trees it frequents, and to a branch 



of which is hung the large red fruit of a species of Arum, of 



which the bird is very fond. The noose is placed in such a 



position that the bird must perch on it to get at the fruit; and 



it is attached to the branch by an ingenious slip-knot, so that 



when the end of the cord which descends to the ground is 



pulled, the bird is caught by the leg and dragged down. It may 



be thought that, the speciniens being unwounded, and captured 



alive, I should obtain them in much finer condition than those 



that are shot ; but such was not the case, and I have never been 



so much troubled with any Birds-of-Paradise as I was here. At 



first they were brought to me alive, bundled up in a bag, and 



with the plumage and tail-cirrhi terribly rumpled and broken. I 



then showed them how to perch them on a stick, attached by the 



leg; but then they were often brought dreadfully dirty, having 



been allowed to get among ashes or sticky dammar-torches during 



the time they were kept in their houses. In vain I begged them 



to bring the birds to me directly they were caught ; in vain I 



begged them to kill them directly and hang them up. They 



would do neither, because it was a little more trouble. I had 



four or five men in my employ, who were paid in advance for a 



certain number of birds (the only way to get them). These men 



distributed themselves about the jungle, often a day^s journey 



from the village, in search of good localities to set their snares. 



Having got one bird, they did not like the trouble of bringing 



it home, but would wait as long as they could keep it alive; 



and thus they often came to me, after a week or ten days' 



absence, with one bird dead and almost stinking, another freshly 



dead, and a thii'd alive and just caught. Notwithstanding all 



my endeavours to alter this system, it continued in full force 



