THE GOLDEN ORIOLE. 25 



are quoted, as they convey a very good idea of the charms which the traveller in New Guinea 

 experiences on meeting the Birds of Paradise in a state of nature. " The Arfaks call the Gorgeted Bird 

 of Paradise (Astrajria gularis) ' Haroma,' and the adult of the Great Bird of Paradise ' Kambiloja,' 

 while the young ones and females are called ' Lessoa.' D' Albertis' Paradise Bird (Drepanornis* albert isi), 

 named after the discoverer, is well known to the Arfaks under the name of ' Sagroja.' It is not very 

 rare, but difficult to find, because, as the hunters assure me, it has no peculiar cry, so that it is only 

 met with by chance. Its inconspicuous colour also makes it difficult to see. It is partial to places 

 near recent clearings, from 3,000 to 5,000 feet, as it has the habit of flying to dead trees and fallen 

 trunks, about which it finds the insects which form its food. In the stomachs of the two specimens I 

 dissected I found only insects of various orders, ants predominating, and the larvae of a lepidopterous 

 insect. As to the Wattled Bird of Paradise (Paradiyalla carunculata), I shot one from my hut while 

 it was eating the small fleshy fruits of an Urtica. It likes to sit on the tops of dead and leafless trees, 

 like Dumont's Grakle (Mino dumonti). The finest ornament of this bird are its wattles, which in the 

 dried skin lose all their beauty. The upper ones, which are attached one 011 each side of the forehead, 

 are of a yellowish-green colour ; those at the base of the lower mandible are blue, and have a small 

 patch of orange beneath. The Arfaks call the Paradigalla ' Happoa.' Of the Six-plumed Bird of 

 Paradise (Paroturt sexpennis) I got one adult male alive, but it lived only three days. Its eye, with the 

 iris azure, surrounded by a yellow ring, is extremely beautiful. The six feathers which ornament 

 the head are not raised up vertically, but moved backwards and forwards in a horizontal and oblique 

 direction, and are moved forward parallel to the sides of the beak. It is the commonest Paradise Bird 

 on Mount Arfak ; but, as usual, the adult males are much scarcer than the females and young males." 

 " The superb Bird of Paradise is rather rarer than the Parotia ; but I must tell you that the abun- 

 dance of fruit-eating birds in a given locality depends principally on the season at which certain kinds 

 of fruit are ripe ; therefore, a species may be common in a place one month, and become rare or 

 completely disappear in the next, when the season of the fruit on which it lives has passed. The 

 magnificent Bird of Paradise (DiphyUod&fy spedosa] is also pretty common, and easy to kill when 

 one has learnt to know its song, which resembles a kind of teia-teia-teia , repeated several times with 

 diminishing force. The sound produced by kissing the palm of the hand is a very good imitation. 

 When once you have heard the song, if you approach carefully, especially early in the morn- 

 ing, you will find some small spaces, about a yard and a half in diameter, clear of sticks and leaves, 

 where one or two males are paying court to a female. The males then erect all their feathers ; the 

 skin of the neck swells up like a bladder ; the head seems like the centre of an aureola, which is formed 

 beneath by the expanded feathers of the breast, and above by those of the yellow mantle, which are 

 carried in a perfectly vertical position and spread like a fan. I kept a bird of this species alive for 

 some days. It is found sometimes at a little distance from the sea on the plains, but perhaps more often 

 on the hills, at 1,000 to 2,000 feet of elevation, preferring open spaces and the vicinity of streams." 



THE THIRD FAMILY OF THRUSH-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS. 

 THE ORIOLES (Oriollida}. 



The Orioles are generally of a bright yellow colour, with black wings, which contrast with and 

 contrive to show oft' the golden tints of the plumage to the best advantage. They are all inhabitants 

 of the Old World, and must not be mistaken for the Hang-nests of America (Icteridce), which often go 

 by the popular name of Orioles also. The best known species of the family is 



THE GOLDEN ORIOLE (Oriolut galbula). 



This species is a rare visitor to England, but many instances of its occurrence have been 

 recorded, and on one or two occasions it has been said to breed in Britain. It is found throughout 

 Central and Southern Europe in summer, but does not extend very far north, and departs in winter 

 to South Africa, where it is found in the Cape Colony, and occurs also in certain places on the east 

 coast also. It is very common in Persia during the summer, and ranges eastwards to Central Asia, 



* apeiraioj, a sickle ; Jpw, a bird. f irapom's, a curl by the ear. J s^vAAos, two-leaved. galbus, yellow. 



