60 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



and thiffhs washed with ooffee-hrown, as well as the 

 outer edge of under 'wing-coverts. Halb., New G-uinea. 

 and neighbouring islands. 



Russ says thai., according to Roseniberg, this species, 

 like a.ll members of it^i famiily. is a migratory bird, 

 eometimes occurring on the coast and sometimes in the 

 interior of the coimti-y following the ripening of certain 

 tree- fruits. He then quotes Wallace as follows : — 

 " That was just the caso during my residence at Dorey 

 with the fruits of a Lar.rinea wliioh grew upon the 

 sunnnit of a hill about 156 ft. high beliind the villages. 

 The birds, chiefly females and young males, came flying 

 with vigorous flapping of wings to these trees ; and were 

 so little nervous, that they even returned after they 

 had been shot at eeveral times. Othea-wise this bird 

 IS unifonnly timid and difficult to get- a shot at, 

 particularly the old males. Their ciy soimds hoarse, 

 can bo heard from a long distance, and may be best 

 represented by the words ' wuk, wuk, wxik,' "frequently 

 followed by a scratching sound. Morning and evening 

 one hears thisery recoimding through the foiest, rarely 

 at midday. Constantly in motion, the bird flies from 

 tree to tree, never i-ennains long sitting quietily on the 

 same branch, and at the least noise conceals "itself in 

 the thickly foliaged branches of the tree. Even ibefore 

 euinri.=e the Paradise-birds fly about to seek for their 

 food." * 



I have not succeeded in findinsr any other notes irjxsn 

 the wild life of this species. Mr. Wallace brought home 

 two males for the Londcn Zoolooricil Gardens in 1862 : 

 two more were pLnchased in 1878; Mr. Kettlewen 

 brought home three malts ,in 1884 : two received by ilrs. 

 Johnstone in 1904 were deposited at the Gardens in 

 1905 : Mr. Pratt brought one home in 19C7 : the 

 Amsterdam Gardens seciiTed an e-xample in 1879 ; an 

 example, which was in the Dresden Gardens in 1875 

 subsequently was transferred to thope of Berlin : 

 altotjethei- a gco<l many examples of this species have 

 been imported. 



Red Bird or P.«i.\dise {Paradisea sanguinfa). 

 Back of head, ba<:k and sides of neck (continued as a 

 band acro.<is the front of bi^east), mantle and wing- 

 ooverts bright golden buff; the latter, scapulars, and 

 middle of back washed with orange-brown, the general 

 colour of the back being reddish brown, with an "orange 

 tinge ; rump buff ; upper flights, tail-coverts and tail 

 reddish cliestnut, the two central tail-feathers repre- 

 sented by long metallic horn-like shafts; front of crown 

 and orbital region, sides of face and throat bright 

 velvety metallic green ; the feathers above the eye 

 elongated into a emaiM tuft; lores, fe.ithers in front of 

 eye and chin velvety greenish-black ; breast and under 

 wing-coverts dark purplish chestnut, the yellow gorget 

 extending a short way on each side of the upper breast 

 and consisting of .<?;iffened feathers : abdomen and under 

 tail-coverts chestnut rather paler than the breast ; two 

 immense bunches of bright crimson plumes with 

 w-hitish tips fro.ii flanks : bill gamboge yellow ; irides 

 blackish olivaceous. Female reddish-brown, deeper 

 and more purplish on front of head, sides of face and 

 throat; back of head, entire neck and mantle golden 

 buff shading to orange. Hab., Waigiou, Ghemien and 

 Batanta. Russ obs'^rves : — " Wallace heard and eaw 

 them tolerably numerously at Waigiou, near to the 

 village of Muka. They were very timid and not easily 

 obtained. Wallace's hunter first shot a female, and the 

 explorer himself ona day got verv' close to a beautiful 



* In The Ibis for 1905, pages 429-440, Mr. W. R. O. Grant hsus 

 publkhed a full and liberally illustrated account of the display 

 «f this epeciee. 



male : ' The biixl crouched low down and ran along a 

 branch search inig for insects, almost like a Woodpecker; 

 the long heavy ribbons in the tail hung down in the 

 nioxt graceful double our\'e. I took a.im and intended 

 to use the baireil which contained a very small charg& 

 of powder and a No. 8 shot, in order not to injure the 

 plumage, but the weapon missed fire and the bird 

 immediately disappeared into the thicket. Another day 

 I saw no less than eigh'.. beaaitiful males at different 

 times, and fired at them four times; but, although other 

 birds at the san^o dist.ince almost always fell, they 

 escaped and I began to think that we should not secure 

 this .=plendid species. At last the fniits on the fig-tree 

 near my house got ripe, many birds came to feed upor» 

 them, and one morning while I was taking my coffee, 

 I saw a male Paradrse-biixl settle near the top of it. 

 I seized my gu.i, ran under tlie tree, and, as I looked 

 up, I could see it flying from branch to branch taking 

 n fruit here and another there, but then before I could 

 take satisfactory aini in order to shoot it at such a. 

 height (for it was one of the highest trees of its kind) 

 it disappeared into the forest. It uow ^-isited Ithis tree 

 every morning, but remained thereon so short a time 

 and its movements were so active and it was so hard to- 

 sec on account of the lower t!-<s which obstructed the 

 view, that it was only after several days and one or two 

 misses I at last brought down my bird — a male with 

 most aplendJd plumage.' " 



The London Zoological Gardens obtained a male of 

 this species in 1881, and three ini 1884. Mr. Goodfellow 

 brought home two in 1907. 



King Bikd op P.\hadise (Cicinnurus regius). 



Above satiny crimson shaded with orange especially 

 on tihe forehead ; flights orange-brown, washed 

 externally with crimson ; tail ashy-brown, with crimson 

 or orange edges to the feathers, oonceale«:l entirely by 

 the long tail-coverts, the two central feathers elongated 

 into a long wire-like shaft, -terminating in a spii'al disc 

 of metallic green ; a cipot of black feathers allot with 

 green above the eye; throat and foreneck purplish- 

 crimeon, the lower feathers with orange-buff tips, 

 forming a band a-cross the foreneck, followed on breast 

 by a m-et-aJlic gi'een belt ; from each side of the breast 

 a tuft of :lonig asihy-brown plumes with gi'een tips, a 

 subterminal buff line and -?. second narrow reddish 

 brown line; remainder of under surface pure white; bill 

 aiipaiently yellow and fe^t blue.' Female above brown, 

 tinted especially on the head, with olivaceous or 

 golden ; greater coverts and flights darker, w,ashed 

 externally with reddish orange ; tad brown, faintly 

 glossed with golden; sides of head and throat dusky, 

 with small centraj huffish shut r-st -eaks to the feathers j 

 rest of under surface pale buff, more golden on fore- 

 neck and barred thioughout with dull brown ; under 

 wing-covert.-; and axULiries reddish with ill-defined 

 bi-own bans; edge of wing oringe cadmium. Hab., 

 New Guinea and SaJwatti, Arti, Mysol and Johi. 



In May, 1897, -Mr. Walter Goodfellow brought home 

 several pairs of this gorgeous bird for ilrs. jolmstoue 

 and Mr. Charles Pratt brought fixim Aru two males 

 and one female for Sir Wiiilliain Ingram. The latter 

 gentleman has described and ilhrstrated tthe display of 

 this Bird of Paradiise {T/ie Ibis, 1907, pp. 225-229). 

 He say-s : — " He aJ'vays commences his display 

 by giving forth several sliort sejwrate notes and squeaks, 

 sometimes resembling th» call of a Quail, Eometimes the 

 whine of a pet dog. Next he spreads out his wings. 



