THE BIRD OF PARADISE. 



109 



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 themselves 

 entitled to rise in their demands when they 

 offered it for sale. One deceit led on to 

 another ; the buyer finding the bird without 

 legs, naturally inquired after them ; and the 

 seller as naturally began to assert that it had 

 none. Thus far the European was imposed 

 upon by others ; in all the rest he imposed 

 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 heavenly 

 beauty, so it was asserted to have a heavenly 

 residence. From thence its name, and all the 

 false reports that have been propagated con- 

 cerning it. 1 



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 ex- 

 treme ; and soon after this harmless 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 extensive 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 beautiful. 



There are two kinds of the bird of Para- 

 dise, 2 one about the size of a pigeon, which is 

 more common ; the other not much larger than 

 a lark, which has been described more imper- 

 fectly. They are both sufficiently distin- 

 guished from all other birds, not only by the 

 superior vivacity of their tints, but by the fea- 

 thers of the tail, there being two long slender 

 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 its gaudy livery, which, 

 being so very brilliant, demands to be min- 

 utely 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 



1 The natives of the New Guinea islands, in prepar- 

 ing the skins of the birds of paradise, removed the true 

 wings, which are not so brilliant as the other feathers, 

 and cut off' the legs. Hence, the absence of feet in all 

 the specimens brought to Europe, gave rise to the fable 

 that these birds had no power of alighting, and were al- 

 ways on the wing. 



2 Nearly a dozen species have been discovered. See 

 a succeeding note. 



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 naked feathers above mentioned, 

 which spring from the upper part of the rump 

 above the tail, and which are usually about 

 three feet long. These are bearded only at 

 the beginning and the end; the whole shaft, 

 for about two feet nine inches, being of a deep 

 black, while the feathered extremity is of a 

 changeable colour, like the mallard's neck. 



This bird, which for beauty exceeds all 

 others of the pie kind, is a native of the Mo- 

 lucca islands, but found in greatest numbers 

 in that of Aro. There, in the delightful and 

 spicy woods of the country, do these beautiful 

 creatures fly in large flocks ; so that the groves 

 which produce the richest spices produce the 

 finest birds also. The inhabitants themselves 

 are not insensible of the pleasure these afford, 

 and give them the name of God's birds, as 

 being superior to all others that he has made. 

 They live in large flocks, and at night gene- 

 rally perch upon the same tree. They are 

 called by some, the swallows of Ternate, from 

 their rapid flight, and from their being con- 

 tinually on the wing in pursuit of insects, 

 their usual prey. 



As the country where they are bred has its 

 tempestuous season, when rains and thunders 

 continually disturb the atmosphere, these birds 

 are then but seldom seen. It is thought that 

 they then fly to other countries, where their 

 food appears in greater abundance; for, like 

 swallows, they have their stated times of re- 

 turn. In the beginning of the month of 

 August, they are seen in great numbers fly- 

 ing together; and as the inhabitants would 

 have us believe, following their king, who is 

 distinguished from the rest by the lustre ol 

 his plumage, and that respect and veneration 

 which is paid him. 3 In the evening they 



* They always migrate in flocks of thirty or forty, and 

 have a leader, which the inhabitants of Aro call the king. 

 He is said to be black, to have red spots, and to fly far 

 above the flock, which never desert him, but always 

 settle in the same place that he does. They never fly 

 with the wind, as in that case their loose plumage would 

 be ruffled, and blown over their heads; and a change of 

 wind often compels them to alight on the ground, from 

 which they cannot rise without great difficulty. When 



