THE EMERALD BIRD OF PARADISE. 335 
plumage, which always commands a high price in the market. It is a very 
retiring bird, concealing itself during the day in the thick foliage of the teak- 
tree, and only coming from the green shelter at the rising and setting 
of the sun, for the purpose of obtaining food. Almost the only successful 
method of shooting the Emerald Paradise Bird is to visit a teak or fig-tree 
before dawn, take up a position under the branches, and there wait patiently 
until one of the birds comes to settle upon the branches, or leaves the spot 
which has sheltered it during the night. This bird is rather tenacious of life, 
and unless killed instantly is sure to make its escape amid the dense brush- 
wood that grows luxuriantly beneath the trees, and if the sportsman ventured 
to chase a wounded bird amid the bushes, he would, in all probability, lose 
his way and perish of hunger. Those sportsmen, therefore, who desire to 
shoot this bird, always provide themselves with guns that will carry their 
charge to a great distance, and employ very large shot for the purpose, as 
the bird always perches on the summits of the loftiest trees of the neigh- 
bourhood, and would not be 
much damaged by the shot 
ordinarily used in shooting. 
This species is very sus- 
picious, so that the sports- 
man must maintain a pro- 
found silence, or not a bird 
will show itself or utter its 
loud full cry, by which the 
hunter’s attention is directed 
to his victim. 
THE large and important 
family of the STARLINGS 
now claims our attention. 4 
These birds are seldom of 4 
great size, the common Star- 
ling of England being about 
an average example of their 
dimensions. The bill of the 
Starling tribe is straight until 
near its extremity, when it 
suddenly curves downward, 
and is generally armed with 
a slight notch. The first 
sub-family of these birds is 
that which is: known by the EMERALD BIRD OF PARADISE. —(FParadiseapoda.) 
name of Glossy Starlings, 
so called on account of the silken sheen of their plumage. 
The best representative of this little group is the celebrated SATIN BOWER 
BirpD of Australia. This beautiful and remarkable bird is found in many 
parts of New South Wales, and although it is by no means uncommon, is so 
cautious in the concealment of its home, that even the hawk-eyed natives 
seem never to have discovered its nest. 
The chief peculiarity for which this bird is famous is a kind of bower or 
arbour, which it constructs from twigs ina manner almost unique among 
the feathered tribes. The form of this bower may be seen in the illustration, 
and the mode of construction, together with the use to which the bird puts 
the building, may be learned from Mr. Gould’s account :— 
“On visiting the cedar brushes of the Liverpool range, I discovered 
several of these bowers or playing-places ; they are usually placed under the 
