BIRDS OF PARADISE. 



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which account some writers refer Wilson's bird of paradise to a distinct genus. 

 Describing this remarkable species, Dr. Guillemard writes that " behind the head 

 a ruff of canary-coloured feathers stands erect above the scarlet back and wings. 

 The breast is covered by a shield of glossy green plumes, which towards the throat 

 are marked with metallic green and violet spots of extraordinary beauty. The 

 two central feathers of the tail, prolonged for 5 or 6 inches beyond the others, cross 



WILSON'S BIRD OF PARADISE. (From Guillemard's Cruise of the Marchesa.) 



one another, and are curved into a complete circle of bright steely purple. But 

 the chief peculiarity of the bird is the head, which is bald from the vertex 

 backwards, the bare skin being of the brightest imaginable blue. The bizarre 

 effect thus produced is still further heightened by two fine lines of feathers, which 

 running lengthways and from side to side form a dark cross upon the brilliant 

 azure background." This bird is of small size, and is confined to Waigiou and 

 Batanta Islands, where it appears to be very locally distributed, frequenting 

 forests of no great height, at an elevation of some eight hundred feet above the sea. 

 VOL. in. 22 



