303 



frcqucnting lofty trees ia the dcep forest, wliere it is 

 very active, flying from braiicli to brancli, shaking 

 its wirigs, and expanding its beautiful fan-shaped breast- 

 plumes (■'■). When quite at rest, or feeding, these 

 pluQies are closed and concealed beneath the wing. 

 Of the //Great Bird of Paradise," I have recorded 

 my observations in a separate paper, The Black Coc- 

 katoo is a very curious bird, of most disproportionate 

 form and dimensions. lts huge head certainly Aveighs 

 as much as its whole body. The legs are very long 

 and slender for the tribe, while its wings are large 

 and powerfiü. Its cry is a shrill whistle, very diffe- 

 rent from that of most other cockatoos. The bill of the 

 male is larger , and the apex more prodiiced , than in the 

 female ; biit the crest-pliimes are equally long in both. The 

 Tamjsijdtera is a Kinghunter, feeding on insects^ worms, 

 &c., which it picks up from the ground in the damp forest. 

 Its coralréd bill is ahvays dirty from this cause , and 

 sometimes so incrusted with mud that the bird seems 

 to have been actially digging for its food, The Syma 

 torotoro Less., also occurs, biit much more rarelv 

 and seems to have very similar habits. Two species 

 of Mcf/rqjodius are plentiful, and the immense mounds 

 of earth and leaves formed by them are scattercd all 

 over the forest. These mounds are gcnerally from 5 

 to S feet high, and from 15 to 30 feet in diameter. 

 But tlie giant of the Aru forcsts is tlie Cassowary {Ca- 



(*) The Paradisea minor \\a.s figitred by Dr. J. K. Gray Trom 

 lifo, -wilh the breast-plumcs dispUiyed as abovo-clcscrlbed, iu the 

 "Illustralions oC Iiidian Zoolopy,' Vol. I. \A. 37, 



