RAVENS. 



245 



occasional change of position in suspending themselves for a few minutes from the branches of a tree 

 by some of the tendril-like feathers of their tail. In vain naturalists endeavoured to prove the 

 absurdity of these and many other fables ; the public mind would not be convinced, and for centuries 

 retained and cherished these most poetical notions. Since those days many travellers in New Guinea 

 and its islands have seen and described the Birds of Paradise, and we are indebted to Bennett, 

 Wallace, and Rosenberg for many very interesting but by no means exhaustive particulars as to their 

 habits and mode of life. 



THE BIRDS OF PARADISE. 



The Birds of Paradise (Paradise<z) are magnificent Ravens, varying in their size from that of 

 a Jay to that of a Lark, and are distinguished not only by the exquisite beauty of their feathers, 





THE RED BIRD OF PARADISE [Paradista rubra). 



f^f- 



but by the elegance of their shape. In this family the beak is of moderate size, straight, or slightly 

 curved, compressed at its sides, and covered at the base with a feathered skin, by which the nostrils 

 are concealed ; the wings are of moderate length, and very decidedly rounded, as the sixth and seventh 

 quills are much longer than the rest; the tail is either composed of twelve rather long feathers, 

 combined with many thread-like feathery appendages of great length, or is extremely long, simple in 

 form, and sharply graduated ; the feet are powerful, the toes long, and armed with sharp, crooked 

 claws. In some species the plumage upon the sides is most peculiar in its appearance, the feathers 

 growing to a great length, and splitting, as it were, into several light and delicate portions. These 

 peculiarities are only observable in the male, both the female and young being much more simply 

 clad. The Birds of Paradise are found exclusively in New Guinea and the neighbouring islands, 



