220 BIRD OF PARADISE. 



son and gold, to the most delicate green or purple, 

 according as the sun's rays fall upon the feathers. 

 It is said that they frequent the most retired spots 

 of the thick woods of their native country. If so, 

 it is difficult to conceive how they can move amongst 

 close and entangled houghs, without injuring their 

 loose and delicate rohe of plumage ; or, for what 

 purpose Providence has so fancifully and profusely 

 decorated them with ornaments apparently so incon- 

 venient. 



None have ever reached this country in a living 

 state, and hut one species, that we are aware of, has 

 ever heen kept in confinement. This was the great 

 Paradise-bird, the flowing yellow plumage of whose 



The Great Bird of .Paradise. 



tail is so much prized as an ornament for ladies' 

 head-dresses. It was in the possession of a gentle- 

 man who had a valuable aviary of the rarest foreign 

 birds, at Macao, in China. He kept it in a large 



