CHAP. XXIV.] A NEW BIRD OF PARADISE. 41 



liis toucliing tliem. I now saw that I had got a great prize, 

 no less than a completely new form of the Bird of Para- 

 dise, differing most remarkably from every other known 

 bird. The general plumage is very sober, bemg a pnre 

 ashy olive, with a purplish tinge on the back ; the crown 

 of the head is beautifully glossed with pale metallic violet, 

 and the feathers of the front extend as much over the beak 

 as in most of the family. The neck and breast are scaled 

 with fine metallic green, and the feathers on the lower part 

 are elongated on each side, so as to form a two-pointed 

 gorget, which can be folded beneath the wings, or partially 

 erected and spread out in the same way as the side plumes 

 of most of the birds of paradise. The four long white 

 plumes which give the bird its altogether unique character, 

 spring from little tubercles close to the upper edge of the 

 shoulder or bend of the wing ; they are narrow, gently 

 curved, and equally webbed on both sides, of a pure 

 creamy white colour. They are about six inches long, 

 equalling the wing, and can be raised at right angles to it, 

 or laid along the body at the pleasui-e of the bird. The 

 bill is horn colour, the legs yellow, and the iris pale olive. 

 This striking novelty has been named by Mr. G. E. Gray 

 of the British Museum, Semioptera Wallacei, or " Wallace's 

 Standard wing." 



A few days later I obtained an exceedingly beautiful 

 new butterfly, allied to the fine blue Papilio Ulysses, but 



