228 THE BIRD OF PARADISE. 



beautiful brown, intermixed with purple and gold: the 

 upper part of the tail-feathers are a pale yellow, but 

 the under ones, which are longer, are a delicate white ; 

 yet what chiefly excites the observation of the curious, 

 are two long naked feathers, which spring from the upper 

 part of the rump above the tail ; these feathers are 

 usually three feet in length, bearded only at the begin- 

 ning and end ; the shaft of which is a deep black, but the 

 feathered part is changeable, like the mallard's neck. 



These birds, which for beauty exceed all others of 

 the pie-kind, associate in large flocks in the Molucca 

 Isles, but in the island of Aro they are still more abund- 

 antly found; and as the country where they breed has 

 its tempestuous seasons, when rains and thunder con- 

 tinually disturb the atmosphere, they are supposed at 

 those periods to seek a more tranquil clime, and are 

 never seen in the air until it becomes composed. 



The natives, who make a trade of killing and selling 

 the bird of Paradise to Europeans, hide themselves in 

 those trees to which they resort, and contrive to con- 

 ceal their persons by forming a bower of the branches 

 which are over their heads, from which they shoot at 

 their prey with reedy arrows, that only slightly damage 

 the beauty of their plumes ; they then take out every 

 part of their entrails, and run a hot iron up their body, 

 which dries up the juice ; and after filling them with 

 salts and spice, they offer them for public sale. 



It is asserted by the natives that each flock of these 

 curious birds is under the dominion of one, that is con- 

 sidered as king, and that this is distinguished by a pe- 

 culiar brilliance of plumage, which the natives them- 

 selves can easily discern, and if the fowlers are able to 

 destroy their monarch, the rest of the flock quickly be- 

 .come their prey. 



