on Birds of Paradise.



91



verified this fact myself. Unfortunately in this bird the beautiful

orange head-feathers on the freshly-caught bird become after the

first moult in captivity a very pale und sickly yellow ; the same

applies to the shield at the back of the neck of the Magnificent. If

one only knew how to keep the orange tint in the feathers or the red

as in the Sepoy Finch, Scarlet Tanager, Red Robin, etc. ! Strange

to say, the King Bird retains that lovely velvety maroon-red colour.

What is the cause? What is the remedy?


The flight of the Birds of Paradise is the characteristic one of

all scrub birds, accompanied by a kind of rattling noise—the Quail

and Partridge species make the same sound when flushed. It is

astonishing how these birds love the rain. The sun will not draw

them out of their shelter into the open ; the rain does so every time :

even the Superb, the most shy and therefore most unsatisfactory of

the lot, will come out for a drenching, spreading out and displaying

his beautiful plumes. At times in the morning the Red Bird and the

Six-Wired will come out to bask in the sun, the former perching on a

branch with head back between the shoulders, the wings and plumes

well spread as we used to see them poised on ladies’ hats. The only

one, however, that will dance in captivity is, it seems, the Six-Wired

species. I have seen the King Bird raise his two tail plumes Lyre

Bird fashion, puffing out and drooping the wings like a ducky hen,

giving a peculiar call at the same time, which leads me to believe

that this display is a love dance for the edification of the hen. That

these birds will breed in captivity given suitable conditions I am

convinced. I have seen the Six-Wired carrying sticks, and a pair of

Red Birds in the possession of Mr. De Berri-Waxman here also

appeared to be anxious to nest, the cock bird carrying sticks and

becoming very spiteful. Unfortunately, shortly after, the cock bird

died suddenly and without apparent cause. My King Bird is very

anxious for a mate, to judge by certain calls and his behaviour. My

Birds of Paradise are all males. One would like to make the experi¬

ment, even at the high cost of the birds, but there are certain

restrictions in force here regarding keeping them, one being that their

dead bodies must be handed back to the Government authorities and

others—so one does not care to make the effort. For exhibition

purposes in Zoos or even privately Birds of Paradise are not satisfac-



