Their Food. 557 



as well as on the islands of Mysol, Salwatty, Jobie, Biak, and 

 Sook. On the south coast of New Guinea, the Dutch natural- 

 ist MuUer found it at the Oetanata river in longitude 136° E. 

 I obtained it myself at Dorey ; and the captain of the Dutch 

 steamer Etna informed me that he had seen the feathers among 

 the natives of Humboldt Bay, in 141° E. longitude. It is very 

 probable, therefore, that it ranges over the whole of the main- 

 land of New Guinea. 



The true paradise birds are omnivorous, feeding on fruits 

 and insects — of the former preferring the* small figs; of the 

 latter, grasshoppers, locusts, and phasmas, as well as cockroaches 

 and caterpillars. When I returned home, in 1862,1 was so 

 fortunate as to find two adult males of this species in Singa- 

 pore ; and as they seemed healthy, and fed voraciously on rice, 

 bananas, and cockroaches, I determined on giving the very 

 high price asked for them — £100 — and to bring them to En- 

 gland by the overland route under my own care. On my way 

 home I staid a week at Bombay, to break the journey, and to 

 lay in a fresh stock of bananas for my birds. I had great 

 difficulty, however, in supplying them with insect food, for in 

 the Peninsular and Oriental steamers cockroaches were scarce, 

 and it was only by setting traps in the stoi'e-rooms, and by 

 hunting an hour every night in the forecastle, that I could se- 

 cure a few dozen of these creatures — scarcely enough for a 

 single meal. At Malta, where I staid a fortnight, I got plenty 

 of cockroaches from a bakehouse, and when I left, took with 

 me several biscuit-tins full, as provision for the voyage home. 

 We came through the Mediterranean in March, with a very 

 cold wind ; and the only place on board the mail-steamer 

 where their large cage could be accommodated was exi^osed 

 to a strong current of air down a hatchway which stood open 

 day and night, yet the birds never seemed to feel the cold. 

 During the night journey from Marseilles to Paris it was a 

 sharp frost ; yet they arrived in London in perfect health, and 

 lived in the Zoological Gardens for one, and two years, often 

 displaying their beautiful plumes to the admiration of the 

 spectators. It is evident, therefore, that the paradise birds 

 are very hardy, and require air and exercise rather than heat ; 

 and I feel sure that if a good-sized conservatory could be de- 

 voted to them, or if they could be turned loose in the tropical 



