392 ON THE GREAT BIRD OF PARADISE. [Apr. 19, 



Fig. 15. Diagram of terminal section of male generative apparatus ; v.d, rasa 

 deferentia ; p, prostate ; pr\ Y-shaped gland ; s, cushion-like pad on 

 to which latter opens ; (5 bursa copulatrix ; p, penis. 



16. Section through vasa deferentia, less highly magnified than fig. 1. 



17. Nephridium ; d, internal funnel; m, mesentery; a, muscular duct; 



b, glandular region ; c, tuft of tubules. 



4. Remarks upon the Moulting of the Great Bird of 

 Paradise. By A. D. Bartlett, Superintendent of the 

 Society's Gardens. 



[Keceived April 1, 1887.] 



In the second volume of 'The Cruise of the Marchesa,' by Dr. 

 F. H. H. Guilleniard (p. 340), a strange statement is made upon 

 the authority of the inhabitants of the Aru Islands respecting tlie 

 moulting and plumage of the Great Bird of Paradise {Paradisea 

 apoda). It is there said that this .bird, unlike its nearly allied 

 species P. minor, does not wear its adult male plumage all the year, 

 and that its beautiful plumes remain developed for not longer than 

 two or three months. 



If I had nothing but my acquaintance with the habits and life- 

 conditions of birds to judge from, I should at once question the 

 accuracy of these statements. 



I could not readily believe that two species of birds so closely 

 allied as these two Paradise-birds, and having the same arrangement of 

 their plumes and the same structural peculiarities, and inhabiting the 

 same region, could by any possibility differ so widely in this respect. 

 It is, however, a great pleasure to me to be able to offer a very 

 clear and well-established fact in proof of my previous conviction. 



On the 1st of October, 188.5, I was fortunate enough to have 

 placed under my charge a male of the larger species P. apoda. The 

 bird at that time was in the adult male plumage; the side-plumes 

 were not so long as in the old male birds, but the feathers of the 

 tail, together with the two long wire-like central feathers, were well 

 developed. About the end of November the bird commenced to 

 moult, throwing off the feathers rapidly. The head and throat soon 

 became completely bare, the uppermost side feathers fell off first, 

 the new feathers taking their place before the longest feathers of the 

 plumes fell off. By the end of January the bird had moulted every 

 feather, and the whole plumage was entirely new and beautiful. 

 In this condition the bird was transferred on May 2, 1886, to the 

 Zoological Gardens at Antwerp. 



I feel therefore, after giving the foregoing facts, fully justified in 

 calling in question the statemicnt of natives and others who may be 

 ignorant, or from some motive wilfully attempt to mislead strangers. 



In conclusion I may add, so far as I am able to ascertain, the bird 

 was the only Hving specimen of the species P. apoda ever brought 

 to Europe. 



