98 A. S. Le Souef—Birds of Paradise in Captivity


Adequate cover and protection from the light is in my opinion one of

the most important considerations in the successful keeping of these

birds.


Moulting is, as may be imagined, a severe task in the Paradiseidae,

and the losses we have sustained have been during that period. The

moult starts about November and continues until April; when the

young feathers are growing the birds come into the bright sunlight

in the morning and thoroughly sun different qiarts of the plumage,

straining themselves into special positions for perhaps half an hour at

a time in order to let the sun play on some particular spot, and this is

the only time that I have seen them enjoy the sun. Another peculiarity

is that during the early moult, when they are almost bare of feathers,

they like to roost in the open. If a sudden storm catches them and they

cannot regain cover they are killed, so that special precautions have to

be taken to prevent this.


Our birds are fed on a variety of food, including hard-boiled egg,

crushed hemp, cake, apples, bananas, raw meat, and occasionally

white earth grubs and mealworms. The food is generally mixed

together and made rather dry, so that fermentation will not take

place in the very hot weather.


During the breeding-season the birds become very active, and

in the case of the raggianas very noisy, each species having quite

a different love display. The raggianas partially raise their plumes

and very rapidly flutter their wings, keeping the head low; sometimes

the plumes are raised, but only for a moment. The Blue Bird of

Paradise hangs under the bough on which the female is sitting, and

works the feathers of the under parts in a rhythmic motion, at the

same time uttering a croak. The most peculiar display is given by

the Magnificent. In this he depresses the body and makes himself

into a long pear shape, or like a lady with a full bottom skirt; at the

same time the yellow fan-like plumes at the back of the head are

raised ; this will suddenly be altered, the neck plumes lowered and

the body broadened by spreading all the plumes laterally, and the

head is depressed into the body so that he then looks like a spinning

top upside down. There must be a very complete set of muscles under

the skin to work this change.



