ON THE 

 GKEAT BIRD OF PARADISE 



PARADISEA APODA, Linn ; 



BIJRONG MATI (DE AD BIRD) 



OF THE MALAYS. 



BT 

 AliFltESB R. llW^illiEiACli] (1). 



Ilaving eujoyed the rare privilege of a personal ac» 

 ciaaintance with this remarkable bird in its native haunts, 

 clurinü: mv residence in the Aru Islands, I am ena- 

 bied to give a more complete account of its habits, its 

 local and geographical distribution , and some peculia- 

 rities of its structure and oeconomy, than has \et been 

 published , and to correct several errors and missta- 

 tcments which occur in all the accounts 1 have seen. 

 I have supplied the deficiencies of my own observa- 

 tions by carefuUy comparing the accounts of those na- 

 tives who shoot the birds and prepare the skins for 

 sale , and with whom 1 have resided for more than two 

 months in the interior of the forests. My own Malay 

 liuntcrs, who have shot most of the fine specimens 



(1) Overgenomen uit de Annnls and Magazine of Nalural History 

 Dl. XX No. 120. 



DL. XYJT; 35 



