430 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL chap. 



photograph taken from an imcoloured plate. The 

 general ground colour is velvety black with rich metallic 

 purple and green reflections on the back ; the head and 

 neck above show various shades of metallic green and violet, 

 with the hinder portion rich emerald green. The curved 

 bands on the throat are metallic green and blue, with 

 some fiery crimson beneath the eye ; the feathers on the 

 sides of the breast are edged with metallic steel green. 

 The tail is glossed with purple, the two centre feathers 

 being largely creamy white. The total length of this bird 

 is fifteen inches, and in its extreme brilliancy it resembles 

 some of the gorgeous humming birds on a gigantic scale. 

 It was found near the base of the Charles Louis moun- 

 tains in Dutch New Guinea, almost opposite the Aru 

 Islands. 



The other species referred to above is almost as peculiar 

 and extraordinary as the wonderful fern-bearing Bird of 

 Paradise, while its general plumage is far more beautiful. 

 This is the Prince Rudolph's Bird of Paradise from the 

 Owen Stanley mountains in south-east New Guinea. An 

 examination of the figure here given (Fig. 66) shows that 

 this bird possesses a very full development of the character- 

 istic breast and body plumes of the family, and these differ 

 from all other known species in being of various shades of 

 blue, instead of yellow^ orange or red as in the correspond- 

 ing plumes of other species. The head, neck, and body 

 both above and beneath are velvety black with a yellowish 

 green metallic sheen on the head, the eyelashes being long, 

 silky, and white; the nape is a cherry brown, and the 

 back greenish blue black. The wings above are blue, the 

 feathers edged with brighter blue ; the large breast-shield 

 has blue and green glosses on the upper portion, with a 

 broad blue band across the lower part of it. The orna- 

 mental lateral plumes are in three series, the longer being 

 rather rigid, of a bright ultramarine blue passing into lilac 

 at the ends, the next shorter series are bright cobalt blue 

 passing into bright greenish blue at the tips, while the 

 broad coverts are chestnut brown near the breast, black at 

 the sides. The tail is blue above with brighter edgings, 

 the two very long shafts being black, with a light blue spot 



