THE ROMANCE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



stimulate desire for an acquaintance with the 

 productions in which it appears so rich. 



Specimens of the birds of paradise had found 

 their way to Europe, through the native traders 

 of the Oriental Archipelago, and their surpassing 

 gorgeousness of plumage had disposed the credu- 

 lous to receive the fabulous narrations with which 

 their history was invested. Gradually these ab- 

 surdities were exploded ; but still no naturalist 

 had ever beheld the birds in native freedom, till 

 M. Lesson, the zoologist attached to one of the 

 French exploring expeditions, touched at the 

 island. He diligently used the few days' stay he 

 made on the coast, and obtained a score of the 

 birds. Thus he narrates his first observation of 

 the living gem: — 



"Soon after my arrival in this land of promise 

 for the naturalist, I was on a shooting excursion. 

 Scarcely had I walked some hundred paces in 

 those ancient forests, the daughters of time, whose 

 sombre depth was perhaps the most magnificent 

 and stately that I had ever seen, when a bird of 

 paradise struck my view; it flew gracefully, and 

 in undulations; the feathers of its sides formed an 

 elegant and aerial plume, which, without exag- 

 geration, bore no remote resemblance to a bril- 

 liant meteor. Surprised, astounded, enjoying an 

 inexpressible gratification, I devoured this splendid 

 bird with my eyes ; but my emotion was so great 

 that I forgot to shoot at it, and did not recollect 

 that I had a gun in my hand till it was far 

 away."* 



The bright spot in the memory of Audubon, the 



enthusiastic biographer of the birds of America, 



was the discovery of the fine eagle which he has 



named "the Bird of Washington." "It was on a 



* " Voy. de la Coquille." 



176 



