280 Birds. 



our arrival on this land of promise (New Guinea) for 

 the naturalist, I was on a shooting excursion. Scarcely 

 had I walked some hundred paces in those ancient 

 forests, the daughters of time, whose sombre depth was, 

 perhaps, the most magnificent and stately sight that I 

 had ever seen, when a Bird of Paradise struck my view : 

 it flew gracefully and in undulations ; the feathers of 

 its sides formed an elegant and aerial plume, which, 

 without exaggeration, bore no remote resemblance to 

 a brilliant meteor. Surprised, astounded, enjoying an 

 inexpressible gratification, I devoured this splendid bird 

 with my eyes; but my emotion was so great that I 

 forgot to shoot at it, and did not recollect that I had a 

 gun in my hand till it was far away." 



The head is small, but adorned with colours which vie 

 with the brightest hues of the leathered tribe ; the neck 

 is a beautiful fawn, and the body very small, but covered 

 with long feathers of a browner hue, tinged with gold : the 

 two middle feathers of the tail are little more than fila- 

 ments, except at the point and near the base. Although 

 the body is no larger than that of a thrush, the total 

 length is two feet. This bird has long been esteemed 

 by ladies as a head-dress ; and as those sent to Europe 

 for this purpose always had the legs cut off for the con- 

 venience of packing, it was reported, and at one time 

 believed, that the Bird of Paradise had no legs, but that 

 it lived always on the wing. Indeed, a very fierce 

 controversy arose on this subject among the earlier 

 naturalists. 



The native place of these birds is New Guinea and 

 the neighbouring islands, where they are generally found 

 in flocks of thirty and forty, roosting on fig or teak trees. 

 They always fly against the wind, that it may not ruffle 

 their light and spreading plumage, as, if the wind came 

 from behind, it would blow their long tails over their 

 back. They take shelter from storms in the most dense 

 thickets, and feed principally on figs, the berries of the 

 teak, and insects. The note. of the Bird of Paradise is 

 very unpleasant, and resembles the cawing of a raven ; it 

 is chiefly heard in windy weather, when they dread being 

 thrown on the ground. 



