Birds-of-Paradise 765 



tail-feathers are thread-like or horny in structure. Of the several species the 

 Great Bird -of -Paradise (P.apodd) is not only one of the most gorgeously beautiful, 

 but was the first member of the family to be described, taking its specific desig- 

 nation, as already pointed out, from the circumstance of the original specimens 

 being prepared without feet. About eighteen inches in total length, the male 

 (the females of all these birds are very plain and ordinary in appearance) has 

 the body, wings, and tail of a rich coffee-brown, which deepens on the breast 

 to a blackish violet or purple-brown. The whole top of the head and neck is 

 of an exceedingly delicate straw-yellow, the feathers being short and close set 

 so as to resemble plush or velvet; the lower part of the throat up to the eye is 

 clothed with scaly feathers of an emerald-green color, with a rich metallic gloss, 

 and velvety plumes of a still deeper green extend in a band across the forehead 

 and chin as far as the eye, which is bright yellow. The two middle feathers of 

 the tail have no webs except a very small one at the base and at the extreme 

 tip, forming wire-like cirrhi, which spread out in an elegant double curve and 

 vary from twenty-four to thirty-four inches long. From each side of the body, 

 beneath the wings, springs a dense tuft of long and delicate plumes, sometimes 

 two feet in length, of the most intense golden orange color and very glossy, but 

 changing toward the tips into a pale brown. This tuft of plumage can be 

 elevated and spread out at pleasure, so as to almost conceal the body of the bird. 

 The female is a nearly uniform coffee-brown color, which never changes, while 

 the young males of the first year resemble the females, and it appears that they 

 do not attain full plumage until the fourth year. 



The Great Bird-of-Paradise is confined to the Am Islands, where, according 

 to Mr. Wallace, it was very abundant and often met with in small parties, though 

 now it seems threatened with extermination. It is very active and vigorous, 

 and has a loud, shrill cry likened to the syllables ivawk-ivawk-wawk-wok, wok, 

 wok, which may be heard at a great distance. It is strictly arboreal in its habits, 

 and in common with the other members of its genus is omnivorous, feeding on 

 fruits, especially small figs, and insects such as grasshoppers, locusts, cockroaches, 

 etc. The nesting habits appear to be entirely unknown, though Mr. Wallace has 

 described entertainingly the so-called dancing parties of the males, which are 

 only engaged in during or just preceding the breeding season. The birds select 

 an immense spreading tree in the forest, particularly one with a large head and 

 large but scattered leaves, giving a clear space for them to play and exhibit their 

 beautiful plumes. "On one of these trees a dozen or twenty full-plumaged male 

 birds assemble together, raise up their wings, stretch out their necks, and ele- 

 vate their exquisite plumes, keeping them in continual vibration. Between- 

 whiles they fly across from branch to branch in great excitement, so that the 

 whole tree is filled with waving plumes in every variety of attitude and motion." 

 The natives take advantage of this habit in procuring specimens. When they 

 find a tree that has been selected by the birds for this purpose, they build a little 

 shelter of palm leaves in a convenient place among the branches, to which the 

 hunter repairs before daylight, armed with his bow and a number of blunt-pointed 

 arrows. When the birds come at sunrise and begin their dancing, the hunter 



