522 



A HISTORY OF 



CHAPTER CU. 



OF THE BIRD OF PARADISE, AND ITS VARIETIES 



THERE are few birds that have more de- 

 ceived and puzzled the learned than this. 

 Some have described it as an inhabitant of 

 the air, living only upon the dew of heaven, 

 and never resting below; others have ac- 

 quiesced in the latter part of its history, but 

 have given it flying insects to feed on. Some 

 have asserted that it was without feet, and 

 others have ranked it among the birds of prry. 



The great beauty of this bird's plumage, 

 and the deformity of its legs, seem to have 

 given rise to most of these erroneous reports. 

 The native savages of the Molucca Islands, 

 of which it is an inhabitant, were very little 

 studious of natural history; and, perceiving 

 the inclination the Europeans had for this 

 beautiful bird, carefully cut off its legs before 

 they brought it to market; thus concealing 

 its greatest deformity, they considered them- 

 selves entitled to rise in their demands when 

 they offered it for sale. One deceit led on 

 to another; the buyer finding the bird with- 

 out legs, naturally inquired after them; and 

 the seller as naturally began to assert that 

 it had none. Thus far the European was im- 

 posed upon by others ; in all the rest he im- 

 posed upon himself. Seeing so beautiful a 

 bird without legs, he concluded that it could 

 live only in air, where legs were unnecessary. 

 The extraordinary splendour of its plumage 

 assisted this deception; and, as it had hea- 

 venly beauty, so it was asserted to have a 

 heavenly residence. From thence its name, 

 and all the false reports that have been pro- 

 pagated concerning it. 



Error, however, is short-lived; and time 

 has discovered that this bird not only has 

 legs, but very large strong ones for its size. 

 Credulity, when undeceived, runs into the 

 opposite extreme ; and soon after this harm- 

 less bird was branded with the character of 

 being rapacious, of destroying all those of 

 smaller size, and from the amazing rapidity 

 of its flight, as qualified peculiarly for exten- 



sive rapine. The real history of this pretty 

 animal is at present tolerably well known; 

 and it is found to be as harmless as it is beau- 

 tiful. 



There are two kinds of the bird of Para- 

 dise; one about the size of a pigeon, which 

 is more common ; the other not much larger 

 than a lark, which has been described more 

 imperfectly. They are both sufficiently dis- 

 tinguished from all other birds, riot only by 

 the superior vivacity of their tints, but by the 

 feathers of the tail, there being two long slen- 

 der filaments growing from the upper part of 

 the rump; these are longer than the bird's 

 body, and bearded only at the end. By this 

 mark the bird of Paradise may be easily 

 known, but still more easily by rts gaudy live- 

 ry, which, being so very brilliant, demands 

 to be minutely described. 



This bird appears to the eye as large as 

 a pigeon, though in reality the body is not 

 much greater than that of a thrush. The 

 tail, which is about six inches, is as long as 

 the body ; the wings are large, compared 

 with the bird's other dimensions The head, 

 the throat, and the neck, are of a pale gold 

 colour. The base of the bill is surrounded 

 by black feathers, as also the side of the head 

 and throat, as soft as velvet, and changeable 

 like those on the neck of a mallard. The 

 hinder part of the head is of a shining green, 

 mixed with gold. The body and wings are 

 chiefly covered with beautiful brown, purple, 

 and gold feathers. The uppermost part of 

 the tail-feathers are of a pale yellow, and 

 those under them white, and longer than the 

 former; for which reason the hinder part of 

 the tail appears to be all white. But what 

 chiefly excites curiosity are, the two long na- 

 ked feathers above mentioned, which spring 

 from the upper part of the rurrop above the 

 tail, and which are usually about three feet 

 long. These are bearded only at the begin- 

 ning and the end ; the whole shaft, for above 



