562 NATURAL HISTORY. 



this way the cabin is made, conical in form, and quite regular in the shape 

 the whole presents when the work is completed. Many other stems are 

 then added and interwoven in various ways, so as to make a roof at once 

 strong and impervious to the weather. Between the central pilaster and 

 the insertion in the ground, there is left a circular gallery in the shape of 

 a horse-shoe. The whole structure has a total diameter of about a yard." 

 The straws of which the whole is constructed are the stems of one of the 

 orchids, and they retain their life for a long time after being built into 

 the cabin. Dr. Beccari continues : — 



" But the aesthetic tastes of our ' gardener ' are not restricted to the 

 construction of a cabin. Its fondness for flowers and for gardens is still 

 more remarkable. Directly in front of the entrance to the cabin is a level 

 place, occupying a superficies about as large as that of the structure itself. 

 It is a miniature meadow of soft moss, transported thither, kept smooth 

 and clean, and free from grass, weeds, stones, and other objects not in 

 harmony with its design. Upon this graceful green carpet are scattered 

 flowers and fruits of different colors, in such a manner that they really 

 present the appearance of an elegant little garden. The greater number 

 of these ornaments appear to be accumulated near the entrance to the 

 cabin. The variety of the objects thus collected is very great, and they 

 are always of brilliant colors. Not only does the bird select its ornaments 

 from among flowers and fruit, but showy fungi and elegantly colored 

 insects are also distributed about the garden and within the galleries of 

 the cabin. When these objects have been exposed so long as to lose their 

 freshness, they are taken from the abode, thrown away, and replaced by 

 others." 



First-cousins to these rather plainly colored bower-birds are the celebrated 

 birds of paradise, a group of over thirty species, which rival the humming- 

 birds and the sun-birds in the brilliancy of their plumage. So beautiful 

 are they that we must devote some space to them, and shall largely follow 

 the account of Wallace, the first naturalist to see them in their own 

 forests, using frequently his own words. 



When the earliest European voyagers reached the Mollucas in their 

 search for cloves and nutmegs, which were then precious spices, they were 

 presented with the skins of birds so strange and beautiful as to excite the 

 admiration of even those wealth-seeking rovers. The Malays called them 

 God's birds ; and the Portuguese, finding that the skins had neither feet 

 nor wings, called them birds of the sun ; and the Dutch, birds of paradise. 

 One old author of 1598 tells us that no one had seen these birds alive ; for 

 they live in the air, always turning towards the sun, and never lighting 

 on the earth until they die, for they have neither feet nor wings, as can be 



