390 THE EMERALD BIRD OF PARADISE. 



sticks and lined with wool, hair, and other soft substances. The eggs 

 are usually five in number, and in color they are yellower than those 

 of the crow or rook, but are spotted with similar tints. The general 

 color of the Chough is black with a rich blue gloss, contrasting well 

 with the vermilion-red of the beak, legs and toes. The claws are 

 black, and the eyes are curiously colored with red and blue in concen- 

 tric circles. The total length of the adult male Chough is about seven- 

 teen inches, and the female is about three inches shorter. 



The supremely glorious members of the feathered tribe which have 

 by common consent been termed Birds of Paradise are not very 

 numerous in species, but are so different in form and color, according 

 to the sex and age, that they have been considered far more numerous 

 than is really the case. The plumage of these birds is wonderfully rich 

 and varied, and not even the humming-birds themselves present such 

 an inexhaustible treasury of form and color as is found among the 

 comparatively few species of the Birds of Paradise. In all the feath- 

 ers glow with resplendent radiance ; in nearly all there is some strange 

 and altogether unique arrangement of the plumage ; and in many the 

 feathers are modified into plumes, ribbons, and streamers, that produce 

 the most surprising and lovely effects. 



The Emerald Bird of Paradise is the species which is most gen- 

 erally known, and is the one of which were related many absurd tales. 



The specific term, apoda, signifies " footless," 

 and was given to tlie bird hy Linnseus in al- 

 lusion to those fables which were then cur- 

 rent, but which he did not believe. 



This most lovely bird is a native of New 

 Guinea, where it is far from uncommon, and 

 is annually killed in great numbers for the 

 sake of its plumage, which always com- 

 mands a high price in the market. It is a 

 The Emerald Bird OF Par- very retiring bird, concealing itself during 

 ADisE [Paradiseapoda). ^he day in the thick foliage of the teak tree, 

 and only coming from the green shelter at the rising and setting of the 

 sun for the purpose of obtaining food. Almost the only successful 

 method of shooting the Emerald Paradise Bird is to visit a teak or 

 fig tree before dawn, take up a position under the branches, and there 

 wait patiently until one of the birds comes to settle upon the branches 

 or leaves the spot which has sheltered it during the night. This bird 

 is rather tenacious of life, and unless killed instantly is sure to make 

 its escape amid the dense brush-wood that grows luxuriantly beneath 

 the trees; and if the sportsman ventured to chase a wounded bird amid 

 the bushes, he would, in all probability, lose his way and perish of 

 hunger. Those sportsmen, therefore, who desire to shoot this bird al- 



