.PARADISE. BIRD. , 473 



gaining an eminence : in this ftate, they are watched by the na- 

 tives, who fecure many, and kill them on the fpot, as they cannot 

 be kept alive by art ; and the traffic in thefe birds is one part of k 



their trade. — They are like'wife taken with birdlime *, when they 

 fettle in trees, or fhot with blunt arrows. They are fold at 

 Banda, and its neighbourhood, for half a rixdollar apiece j but 

 the people of Aroo are content with afpike-nail for each. 



The true food of thefe birds is not certain, fince the accounts 

 given by authors differ widely : fome fay, that they feed on the 

 red berries of the Waringa 'Tree f ; others, that they are fond of 

 eatin°- Nutmegs % ; fome, that their food is large Butterflies § ; 

 and others aver, that they chafe fmall Birds \ ; which laft circum- 

 fiance is not improbable, as their legs and bills are fufficiently 

 flout; and they are known to defend themfelves courageoufly, 

 whenever they are taken alive. 



Thefe birds were formerly brought into Europe without legs, 

 and not a few were perfuaded that they never had any ; but the 

 truth is, merely, that the legs are ufelefs for the purpofes defigned 

 by the natives, and are therefore torn off on the fpot, and thrown 

 afide. It is for ornament only, that thefe birds are coveted by 

 fuch of the inhabitants of the Eaft as are able to purchafe them, 

 the Chiefs of the country wearing them conftantly in their turbans j 

 and the Grandees of Perjia, Sural, and the Eaft Indies, ufe them 

 as aigrettes, and even adorn their horfes with them. 



* Said to be prepared from the juice of Sukkom, or Bread-fruit ; Arto-carpus 

 communis, Forji. Nov. Gen. 



f Forreji. p. 136. \ Tavernier, vol. ii. p. 311. § Linnaeus. 



|| Bontius. " Unguibus incurvis & peracutis parvas Aviculas, Chlorides Frin 

 gillas, & fimiles venentur, eafque mox, ficut reliquaj rapaces aves devorent." 

 Lib. v. cap. 12. 



n p Smaller 



