PARADISE BIRD. 185 



spring two wire-like shafts, as in the former bird, as well as a tuft of 

 long, loose-webbed feathers from beneath each wing ; these are of a 

 delicate white, or light yellow, the last chiefly on the sides, where 

 many of the shorter ones have purple tips ; but in some specimens 

 the base half is fine yellow, and the rest of the length satiny white, 

 without the purple tips. 



This bird is only to be found in the Papuan Islands, where it is 

 called Shag or Shague, by the people of Ternate, Toffu, or 

 Boorong-papuwa. It is said, that the Papuans intoxicate them with 

 Cocculus indicus,% so as to catch them with the hand; they then draw 

 out the bowels, sear the inside with a red hot iron, and afterwards 

 put each into the hollow of a bamboo, for preservation. I have, 

 however, reason to suppose, that they do more than simply exenterate 

 them, as I have ever found, that the skins alone were preserved, and 

 in general, most, if not the whole, of the skull was taken away, 

 whence the head appears unnaturally small. f 



We are informed, that they build in tall trees, and do not migrate 

 like the first described ; yet are said, like them, to fly in flocks, 

 preceded by a king, who is black, with a purplish cast, and more 

 finely coloured than the rest, and that the male has a longer bill and 

 neck than the female. 



It is probable, that this and the former are mere Varieties, if not 

 in different stages of growth. 



3 —DOUBTFUL PARADISE BIRD. 



AMONG the excellent drawings of Sir J. Anstruther, is one of 

 the fragments of a Paradise Bird, which I can scarcely reconcile to 



* Menispermum Cocculus, Lin. 



t I have met with one having the skull complete, which was round, and nearly the size 

 of that of the Magpie. 



VOL. III. B B 



