316 



NEW GUINEA. 



[chap. 



plumed Paradisca minor they had obtained forty-two, and of the 

 King-bird nine skins ; the former, together with those we had shot 

 in the immediate neighbourhood of Ansus, completing a perfect 

 series in different stages of plumage. The abundance of this bird 

 in Jobi was remarkable, but it is a singular fact that there was not 

 a single female in our collection. The segTegation of the males 

 at certain seasons of the year partially explams it, but there is, 

 I think, no doubt that in this species, and indeed among the 

 ParadiseidiB generally, a considerable preponderance m numbers 

 in favour of the male sex exists. Among the other birds the 

 most noticeable were three skins of a species of Crowned Pigeon 

 peculiar to the island, not greatly differing from the one we had 

 already obtained, but conspicuous by the star-like white tipping 

 of the crest. Of this bird {Goura victoricc) we also obtained two 

 living specimens, but, unlike its congener, it did not seem to be 

 at all abundant. 



The payment of the Ansus escort was an affair of some difficulty, 

 for, like most natives, however much they may have desired any 



given object a few moments 

 before, possession failed to 

 show them its \di'tue, and 

 they immediately wanted 

 to exchange it for some- 

 thing else. We eventually 

 settled the matter by 

 giving them a sarong and 

 a knife apiece, besides 

 some smaller presents, 

 while Paperipi's heart was 

 gladdened with a bar of 

 iron and some cloth. He 

 brought us some excel- 

 lently-carved wooden pillows or head -rests for exchange, all of 

 different design but of very similar plan, representing two conven- 



PAPUAN HEAD-REST. 



