BIRD OF PARADISE. 39 



were not without legs. There are several species 

 of these very elegant birds. 



The Ternate people call them Burong Papua, 

 or Papua birds ; sometimes Manuco dewata, and 

 likewise Soffu or SiofFu. The Amboyna natives 

 call them Manu, key, aroo, the bird of the 

 islands, Key and Aroo ; because the natives of 

 the two last places bring them for sale to Banda 

 and Amboyna. At Aroo, the people call them 

 Fanaan. Properly, these birds are not found in 

 Key, which is fifty Dutch miles east of Banda ; 

 but they are found at the Aroo islands (lying 

 fifteen Dutch miles further east than Key) during 

 the westerly or dry monsoon, and they return to 

 New Guinea as soon as the easterly or wet monsoon 

 sets in. They come always in a flock of thirty 

 or forty, and are led by a bird which the inhabi- 

 tants of Aroo call the King, distinct from the 

 Little King Bird of Paradise. This leader is 

 black, with red spots, and constantly flies higher 

 than the rest of the flock, which never forsake 

 him, but settle as soon as he settles ; a circum- 

 stance which occasions their ruin, when their 

 king alights on the ground ; whence they are 

 not able to rise, on account of the singular struc- 

 ture and disposition of their plumage. They 

 are likewise unable to fly with the wind, which 

 would destroy their loose plumage, but take tlieir 



