1508 THE PERCHING BIRDS 



yellow, the two central feathers consisting of two long shafts, twenty-one inches in 

 length, of a metallic horny structure; the wing coverts are golden yellow; the 

 primaries ruddy chestnut; and breast deep purplish chestnut. The female and 

 young have the sides of the head and forehead purplish brown; the hind part of the 

 head, neck, and mantle straw yellow, deepening into orange; the remainder of the 

 upper surface, including the wings and tail, being chestnut brown, as are the lower 

 parts.- 



Thoroughly arboreal in their habits, the birds of this genus live 



both upon insects and fruits; and occasionally they may be seen 

 running along the lower boughs of trees almost like woodpeckers, with the long, 

 black filaments of the tail hanging gracefully down on each side. In motion 

 throughout the day, they are active and vigorous; and while small flocks of females 

 and immature males are constantly met with, the adult cocks are less commonly 

 seen, although their presence near by is revealed by their loud and harsh cries. At 

 certain seasons of the year the adult males flock together in a selected tree for the 

 purpose of display, forming what the natives term dancing parties. "On one of 

 these trees," says Mr. Wallace, "a dozen or twenty full-plumaged male birds 

 assemble together, raise up their wings, stretch out their necks, and elevate their 

 exquisite plumes, keeping them in a continual vibration. Between whiles they fly 

 across from branch to branch in a state of great excitement, so that the whole tree 

 is filled with waving plumes in every variety of attitude and motion." When thus 

 assembled, the birds are shot with blunt-headed arrows by the natives, who climb 

 silently into the "play tree," and seat themselves in some convenient fork. From 

 continual persecution to supply the European market with skins, the great bird of 

 paradise, according to Dr. Guillemard, has of late years greatly diminished in 

 numbers. 



The beautiful little king bird of paradise (Cicinpiirus regius}, from 

 n ?,. * r >e New Guinea and the adjacent islands, forms the type of a distinct 



genus, distinguished by the flank plumes not extending beyond the 

 tail, by the presence of a large tuft of fan-like plumes on each side of the breast, and 

 by the two central tail feathers being long and racket-like. Measuring only about 

 six and one-half inches in length, this lovely species has the head, throat, upper 

 parts, wings, and tail red, the fan-like plumes on the sides purplish, tipped with 

 green, a green gorget below the red of the throat, and the rest of the under parts 

 white. 



The remarkable species (Diphyllodes wilsoni) we illustrate may be 

 Wilson's Bird . , , . 



of Paradise mc ^ u " e " m a Papuan genus, typically represented by the magnificent 



paradise bird (Z>. magnified) t and distinguished from the preceding by 

 the presence of a shield of feathers on the back, and the absence of elongated flank 

 plumes; while from an allied genus (Rhipidornis) it differs in having no fan-shaped 

 shield of feathers springing from each side of the breast. Whereas, however, in the 

 magnificent paradise bird the head is thickly feathered, in the species under con- 

 sideration, with the exception of a few narrow tracks of feathers, it is bare; on 

 which account some writers refer Wilson's bird of paradise to a distinct genus. 

 Describing this remarkable species, Dr. Guillemard writes that ' ' behind the head a 



