270 VERTEBRATA. AVES. 



Papuan Isles. They are birds of passage, changing 

 their residence according to the monsoons. The 

 females associate in flocks, on the loftiest trees, and 

 all cry together to attract the males. The latter are 

 always single in the midst of about fifteen females 

 which compose their seraglio, in the manner of the 

 Gallinaceous birds 



" We observed the Manucode (P. Regia) twice in 

 our shooting excursions, and killed both the male 

 and the female. This species appears to be mono- 

 gamous, or perhaps separates into pairs at the time 

 of laying. This bird has no brilliancy in the woods, 

 as its splendid plumage is not then observable, and 

 the tints of the female are dull. It delights to sta- 

 tion itself on the teak trees, whose ample foliage 

 shelters it, and on whose small fruit it feeds. 



" Soon after we arrived in this land of promise for 

 the naturalist, I went on a shooting excursion. I 

 had scarcely entered those ancient forests, whose 

 sombre depth was perhaps the most magnificent and 

 stately sight that I had ever beheld, when a Bird of 

 Paradise met my view : it flew gracefully and in 

 undulations ; the feathers of its sides forming an 

 elegant and airy plume, which, without exaggeration, 

 bore no slight resemblance to a brilliant meteor. 

 Surprised, astounded, enjoying an inexpressible gra- 

 tification, I devoured this magnificent bird with my 

 eyes ; but my emotion was so great, that I forgot 

 to shoot it, and did not remember that I had a gun 

 in my hand till it was far away. 



" The Emerald when alive is about the size of the 



