of the Greater Bird of the Aru Islands. Indeed, I can think of 

 only two species which are found in Dutch, German, and British 

 New Guinea the King Bird and the Rifle Bird. The first is a 

 lowland form, and the latter does not ascend beyond 3,000 feet 

 at the most. The magnificent Diphyllodes magnified is not 

 " distributed over the whole of New Guinea," as Mr. Pratt 

 supposes, but is confined to the N.W. parts. All the other 

 forms of the bird are different local species. The danger of 

 extermination of species is obviously greater the smaller their 

 range. 



Without discussing such rare species as Rothschild's Paradise 

 Bird, let us take the case of the more ordinary ones, such as the 

 apoda, minor, rubra, and raggiana. It has been stated that as 

 many skins come to the market as formerly, and that this proves 

 the species is not diminishing. It proves nothing of the kind. 

 It simply means that though they have been wiped out in some 

 districts, the shooters have penetrated further in order to get 

 them. This supply may go on for a time, but it cannot go on for 

 long. The Dutch line of steamers running along the north and 

 west coasts now call at places which were unknown a few years 

 ago, and in addition, the Chinese, Malay, and Arab traders run 

 schooners of their own, to pick up the skins at still more out-of- 

 the-way places. Over and over again both shooters and traders 

 themselves have told me, how much more difficult the collecting 

 of skins becomes, on account of the birds having been killed-off 

 in the more accessible regions. 



Paradise skins may have been brought to England as long 

 ago as the sixteenth century, but the craze for them is com- 

 paratively modern : and modern also is the present method of 

 slaughter. Formerly the birds were irregularly killed by the 

 natives with bows and arrows. Now, the slaughter is systematic. 

 Professional shooters, chiefly Malays from the Celebes and the 

 various Moluccan Islands, flock over to New Guinea, armed with 

 ;shot guns, and scour the districts far and wide, each year being 

 obliged to go further afield to obtain the supply. 



