118 THE GREATER BIRD OF PARADISE. 



OF THE BIRDS OF PARADISE IN GENERAL. 



THE Birds of Paradise have their bills slightly bent, and the base 

 clad with velvet-like feathers. The nostrils are small, and covered 

 The tail consists of ten feathers; the two middle ones of which, ia 

 several of the species, are very long, and webbed only at the base and 

 tips. The legs and feet are large and strong ; having three toes 

 forward and one backward, and the middle toe connected to the outer 

 one as far as the first joint. 



No class of birds has given rise to more fables than this. By 

 different writers we are taught to understand that they never touch 

 the ground, from the time of their exclusion from the egg, to their 

 death; that they live wholly on dew, and that they are produced 

 without legs ; that, when they sleep, they hang themselves by the two 

 long feathers of the tail, to the branch of a tree ; that the female 

 produces her eggs in the air, which the male receives in an orifice in 

 his body, where it is hatched ; and a thousand other stories that are 

 too absured even to be mentioned. 



The whole race, as far as we are at present acquainted with them, 

 are natives of New Guinea, whence they migrate into the neighboring 

 islands. Their plumage is in general of extremely brilliant colors. 



THE GREATER BIRD OF PARADISE. 



The general color of these birds is chestnut, with the neck of a gold^ 

 green beneath. The feathers of the back and sides are considerably 

 longer than those of the body. They have two long tail feathers, which 

 are straight and taper to the tip. 



There are two varieties of this species, both of which inhabit the 

 islands of Arrou. They are supposed to breed in New Guinea, and to 

 reside there during the wet monsoon ; but they retire to the Arrou 

 islands, about a hundred and forty miles eastward, during the dry 

 or western monsoon. 



They always migrate in flocks of thirty or forty, and have a leader, 

 which the inhabitants of Arrou call the king. He is said to be black, 

 to have red spots, and to fly far above the flock, which never desert 

 him, but always settle in the same place that he does. They never fly 

 with the wind, as in that case their loose plumage would be ruffled and 

 blown over their heads ; and a change of wind often compels them to alight 

 on the ground, from which they cannot rise without difficulty. When 

 surprised by a heavy gale, they soar to a higher region, beyond the 

 reach of the tempest. There, in a serene sky, they float at ease on their 

 light flowing feathers, or pursue their journey in security. During 

 their flight they cry like Starlings; but when a storm blows in their 

 rear, they express their distressed situation by a note somewhat resem- 

 bling the croaking of a Raven. In calm weather great numbers of 

 these birds may be seen flying, both in companies and singly, in pursuit 

 of the larger butterflies and other insects on which they feed. They 

 never willingly alight, except on the highest trees. 



