PARADISE BIRD; 



6. 

 L'Oifeau Paradis a gorge doree, Sou. Voy. p. 158. pi. 97. GOLD- 



Le Sifilet, ou Manucode a fix filets, Buf.oif. iii. p. 171.— PI. enl. 633. BREASTED 



P. B. 



CIZE of the common Turtle. The bill is blackifh : irides yel- Description. 



low : on the forehead, at the root of the bill, is a creft,. which 

 the bird carries nearly erect; this, when laid flat, extends not 

 much beyond the eyes, and is compofed of fine ftiff" feathers, not 

 well furniihed with webs ; at firft this creft is black, but fome of 

 the feathers are half black half white : top of the head, cheeks, 

 and throat, are of a changeable violet black: fore part of the 

 neck and breaft gilded changeable green, very brilliant : on the 

 hind part of the neck is a large fpot of green gold : the back is 

 deep black, with a violet glofs : tail and wings black: beneath 

 each wing arile long black feathers, which cover over and em- 

 brace the wings in a ftate of reft ; the webs of thefe are loofe 

 like thofe of an Oftrich : on each fide of the head, about the 

 place of the ears, are-three long feathers without webs, except a 

 fmall part, of an oval fhape, juft at the tips ; thefe are of fuch a 

 length, that when ranged on each fide of the body, they reach a 

 quarter way on the tail, which is fomewhat cuneiform : the legs 

 are blackifh. 



One of thefe birds, in the collection of Mifs Blomefield, received Place. 



from Holland, anfwered nearly to the above defcription, except in 

 the long weblefs ear feathers ; but though thefe were wanting in 

 her bird, there remained, as it were, the rudiments of them, the bird 

 having a few feathers longer than the reft at that part ; nor had 

 her's the Oftrich-like feathers under the wing. Buffon mentions 

 the like circumftance, in a bird publifhed by M. Marvi, adding, 

 that his bird had not the creft. — It is not improbable but the laft- 



3 Q_ mentioned 



