7^ 



BIRD OF PARADISE. 



race can rival them in the gorgeous variety and singularity of 

 their splendid dress. Some are ornamented with light pro- 

 jecting tufts, of a fine downy substance, while others have 

 plumes and tendrils flying out in every direction, like pennants 

 and streamers, while their bodies glisten with the most dazzling 

 and resplendent hues, changing from crimson and gold to the 

 most delicate green or purple, according as the sun's rays fall 

 upon the feathers. It is said that they frequent the most 

 retired spots of the thick woods of their native country. If 

 so, it is difficult to conceive how they can move amongst close 



and entangled boughs, without 

 injuring their loose and delicate 

 robe of plumage ; or, for what 

 purpose Providence has so fanci- 

 fully and profusely decorated them 

 with ornaments apparently so in- 

 convenient. 



None have ever reached this 

 country in a living state, and but 

 one species, that we are aware of, 

 has ever been kept in confinement. 

 This was the great Paradise-bird, 

 the flowing yellow plumage of 

 whose tail is so much prized as an ornament for ladies' head- 

 dresses. It was in the possession of a gentleman who .had a 

 valuable aviary of the rarest foreign birds at Macao, in China. 

 He kept it in a large cage, where it had abundance of room 

 for the display of its gaudy dress, of which it seemed very 

 proud ; dancing about when visitors approached, as if delighted 

 at being made an object of admiration. It washed itself 

 twice every day, and then threw up its delicate feathers nearly 

 over its head. Nothing appeared to disturb it so much as any 

 sort of dust attaching itself to its plumage. For at its toilet 

 it pecked and cleaned all within reach, and throwing out the 

 elegant and delicate tuft of feathers underneath the wings, 

 cleaned each in succession, by passing it through its bill 

 Having completed its toilet, it would utter its usual cawing 



The Great Bird of Paradise. 



