74 Wonders of the Bird World 



instances last mentioned, however, the ornamentation is 

 produced by an elongation or flattening out of the shaft of 

 the feather, so that the result is achieved by a somewhat 

 similar process to that which produces the wire-like tail- 

 feathers of the Birds of Paradise. 



I mentioned above that it was not known whether the 

 Birds of Paradise themselves manipulated the shredding 

 of the webs of their shaft-like plumes. It seems impossible 

 to believe that they could possibly do this, for in the case 

 of the Six-plumed Birds of Paradise {Parotid), it is difficult 

 to understand how the birds could ever attain their object, 

 seeing that the six plumes spring from the sides of the 

 head, and grow, three on each side, to a length which the 

 bird would find it difficult to reach with its bill. The 

 species too have differently-sized rackets at the ends, these 

 being large in P. sexpennis and very small in P. carolce. 

 Again, in the King Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus regius), the 

 shaft of the central tail-feather is thin and wire-like, and 

 ends in a metallic-green " boss " at the tip, this being of a 

 circular form, the feather being curved round and round 

 upon itself. Yet in younger specimens of the King Bird of 

 Paradise we see that this metallic " boss " begins like a true 

 feather, and curves more or less towards the point, so as 

 to become sickle-shaped. We must accept, therefore, the 

 theory of Dr. Meyer with regard to Paradisea minor, 

 that it takes several moults before the perfect tail-feather is 

 donned, and certainly I have seen specimens of C. regius 

 in full moult, with the green-bossed central tail-feather just 

 sprouting from the " pen," so that it is evident that when 

 once the metallic " boss " has been attained, it is resumed in 

 its perfect condition at each moult, and never returns to the 

 feathered stage. A propos of the Birds of Paradise and 

 their moult, it must be said that even in this function they 

 are most remarkable birds and totally unlike Crows, for 

 they seem to moult their feathers in great patches, so that 



