764 The Sparrow-like Birds 



colored reflections. The long feathers which grow from the sides of the breast 

 are, when closed, gray, shot with a violet tint; but when spread they form a 

 semicircle around the body, and in certain lights shine like gold, in others like 

 fire. Long feathers of a grayish violet color grow from the sides, the edges being 

 of a metallic violet luster. The upper parts of the wing- and tail-feathers are of a 

 darkish yellow, as are those of the back. The feathers of the throat are black, 

 shading off into olive-color; those of the breast a grayish purple, with an olive 

 band; the abdomen is white. When the bird raises the long feathers on his 

 sides and breast, they form two semicircles, and he presents as extraordinary 

 and beautiful a sight as one could behold." 



Long-tailed Bird -of -Paradise. The great Epimaque, or Long-tailed Bird-of- 

 Paradise (Falcinellus striatus), which may be taken as typical of the final genus 

 of the slender-billed group, is distinguished at once by the enormously elongated 

 tail, which much exceeds the length of the body. In coloration it much resembles 

 the Twelve-wired Bird-of-Paradise, being dark velvety, glossed with bronze 

 and purple, while the magnificent tail is glossed on the upper surface with the 

 most intense opalescent blue. But its chief ornament consists of a group of 

 broad plumes which spring from the sides of the breast and which are dilated at 

 the extremity and banded with the most vivid metallic blue and green. This 

 splendid bird inhabits the Arfak Mountains of New Guinea, and is one of the won- 

 derful creatures known only or mainly by the imperfect skins prepared by the 

 natives. The three other species of the genus are found in various parts of New 

 Guinea. 



Typical Birds-of -Paradise. Although not recognized by Rothschild, who 

 has recently monographed the group, the second subfamily may be known by 

 having the bill short and more or less stout, with the culmen shorter than the 

 tarsus; it comprises the bulk of the Birds-of-Paradise. Agreeing with the species 

 last mentioned in possessing a very long, graduated tail, whiclrqs much longer 

 than the body, is the Gorget Bird-of-Paradise (Astrapia nigra), this being the 

 best known of the three species comprising the genus Astrapia. This species is 

 especially distinguished by having the lores and angle of the mouth thickly 

 feathered, while the head is surrounded by an erect frill of a metallic golden 

 coppery gloss, and the lower parts a rich velvety grass-green, while the wings and 

 tail are black, more or less glossed with purple. Agreeing with the last in having 

 a long, graduated tail, although in this case it is shorter than the body, is the 

 Wattled Bird-of-Paradise (Paradigalla carunculatd) of the Arfak Mountains of 

 New Guinea, which is distinguished by the presence of an erect orange wattle on 

 the lores and a pendent one of azure -blue at the angle of the mouth, the head 

 and throat being without frills or other peculiar ornamentation; it is the only 

 species of its genus, perhaps its nearest of kin being the monotypic Macgregoria 

 pulchra, in which the eye is ornamented. This brings us to the confines of the 

 typical and largest genus, Paradisea, which embraces ten species and a number 

 of fairly well marked subspecies, and is distinguished among other features by 

 having the flank plumes produced to an extraordinary length and forming two 

 enormous bunches of feathers reaching far beyond the tail, while the two central 



