63



on Prince Rudolph's Bird of Paradise.



search of the birds, as they had learnt that the chief of the district

resented their intrusion into his country and had threatened

literally to “eat them up” if he caught them. There was only

one alternative to returning empty handed with all the labour of

months wasted, and that was to beard the Lion in his Den. I am

glad to say that Stalker, who is a plucky little Englishman, chose

the latter and, with only an interpreter, boldly went into the

chief’s,! village and demanded a palaver. At first the Potentate

refused to believe Stalker’s assurance that they had come with no

evil intent but simply to catch alive a bird ; and it was only after

he was told that there was a great white chief who had more

white warriors than there were trees in the forest, who desired to

see a live specimen of this particular bird, and had told Stalker

to get one, and had sent as a present to the chief a splendid toma¬

hawk, that he was induced to give his consent to the strangers

hunting in his province. Stalker had to persuade the chief

to remain in his camp as a sort of hostage before his hunters

would agree to go out in search of the Blue Bird. They only

saw one flock of six, three of which were captured, but unfort¬

unately two of them were so much injured that they both died

the next day. Although the surrounding country was searched

for fourteen days longer no more specimens were seen, and

Stalker had to start back on his long journey to England, more

than sixteen thousand miles.


The captured bird was a very fine male, exceedingly healthy,

and never seemed to suffer at an)'' time during the months he was

spending in a small cage on board ship, passing through several

different climates; and it seems sad indeed that he only survived

three weeks after he was deposited in the Zoo, dying of Protozoan

enteritis. I cannot but think that, as he came from the higher

ranges of mountains in British New Guinea, where the climate is

not so relaxing, the New Bird House, where he was placed in the

Zoo, was of too high a temperature and too enervating.


When I first saw the live Blue Bird I was somewhat

disappointed with his appearance; he resembled in colour and

shape a small Jackdaw with a very comical expression, arising

from the clown-like effect caused by the two slightly curved

and narrow lines of white feathers, one just above and one just



