500 



PASSEEINES. 



feathers on the back of the male ; that thej' passed the breeding 

 season in Paradise ; and many other stories equally absurd. 



The inhabitants of Papua capture these birds, for their plumage 

 is of great commercial value. The method thej^ adopt is to place 

 themselves in the tops of the highest trees : when thus concealed, 

 they attract the birds within reach of their blow -pipes bj' whistling. 

 The Birds of Paradise are divided by Vieillot into Parotia, 

 Lophorina, Cincinnurus, and Samalia. The most remarkable 

 among these is Paradisea apoda, the Great Emerald, as it 

 is sometimes called (Fig. 212), the throat and neck of which 

 are of a bright emerald green, from which circumstance it has 



received one of its popular 

 names, while on its sides are 

 shaded tufts of yellow fea- 

 thers which float on the breeze, 

 forming an elegant aerial 

 plume, and giving the bird 

 a meteor look as it shoots 

 through the air. They live 

 in flocks in the vast Papuan 

 forests. When prepared for 

 migration — for they change 

 their quarters with the mon- 

 soons — the females assemble 

 in small flocks on the tops of 

 the loftiest trees, and utter 

 their call to the males, each 

 flock of fourteen or fifteen being attended bv one male. 



The King r)ird of Paradise {Paradisea re<jia, Linn.), Fig. 213, 

 is an inhabitant of the Molucca Islands, where it is scarce. Little 

 is known of its habits. The beak, which is furnished at the 

 base with small feathers pointing forward, is slender, convex, and 

 slightly compressed at the sides. The hypochondrial feathers are 

 broad, elongated, and truncated. 



In the Superb {Lophorina supcrha), Fig. 214, the beak is fur- 

 nished with elongated feathers, extending half its length ; the 

 feathers of the neck, rising just behind the head, expand into a 

 wing-like form. 



Fig. 213.- King Bird of Paradise (Cine, 

 regius^ Vieiilot). 



