346 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Chows. 



towards the trees surrounding the openings in the 

 forest. The strength of the bill and of the claws 

 shows its adaptation to feed on fruit and insects." 

 ( 'Zoological Researches in Java.') General colour 

 sooty green, with bronzed reflexions. 



1547. — The Trimmed-Pie 

 (Crypsirina temnura, Swainson). Glaucopis tem- 

 nura, Forster : Calseas temnura, Vieillot. This bird, 

 which is a native of Cochin-China, is about twelve 

 inches in length. It is remarkable for a tail of gra- 

 duated feathers, each appearing as if cut and 

 trimmed at the tip with a pair of scissors. The 

 whole of the plumage is black, a little lustrous on 

 the wings and tail. Of its habits little is known. 



1548. — The Nest of the Magpie 



(Pica caudata, Ray). Pica melanoleuca, Vieillot; 

 Corvus Pica, Linnaeus. The magpie is a native of 

 Europe generally, and is common in our island, 

 where it is noted for its destructiveness among 

 the young broods of feathered game, as pheasants, 

 partridges, &c. Nothing, in fact, comes amiss to 

 its voracious appetite — eggs, carrion, frogs, mice, 

 insects, fruits, and grain, are all acceptable ; and it 

 is hated alike by the farmer and the gamekeeper. 

 It must, however, be confessed that, plunderer as it 

 is, it is an interesting bird. It is active, daring, 

 animated, and intelligent ; it is the first to give 

 shrill warning of the approach of the skulking fox, 

 the cat, the hawk, and the owl, and no bird harasses 

 the intruder with greater pertinacity. Resolutely 

 does it defend its nest, but it is too ready to attack 

 those of other species, which it mercilessly despoils ; 

 sometimes, however, meeting with a signal defeat. 



The magpie is generally seen in pairs, but very 

 early in the spring, as we have often witnessed, 

 several assemble together, and in some retired field, 

 or on the skirts of a wood or coppice, appear to 

 hold a sort of conference, during which they utter 

 a clamorous chattering. On being suddenly dis- 

 turbed, they take to flight in different directions. 



The nest of this bird is a substantial edifice, 

 generally placed in the top of a tall tree, or amidst 

 the dense branches of an elevated old hawthorn. 

 It consists of an external basket-work of sticks, 

 mostly thorns, well united together, those forming 

 the foundation being mixed with turf and clay. The 

 inside of this basket-work, which is in the form of a 

 circular cup, is lined with a thick layer of well- 

 wrought cla}/-, over which is arranged an inner layer 

 of pliable roots and fibres neatly interwoven. The 

 whole is then covered with an elevated dome 

 composed of entertwined sticks of the thorn or the 

 blackthorn ; this is evidently intended as a frame- 

 work of defence : an aperture is left in the side for 

 the ingress and egress of the bird. The whole mass 

 is of large size, and on the open-topped elm or ash 

 near the farm or cottage of the labourer the dark 

 ball is a conspicuous object. The eggs are of a 

 greenish- white mottled with brown. In captivity 

 the magpie is very amusing from its archness ancl 

 cunning ; it is fond of stealing slily behind people 

 and suddenly pecking their heels and then rapidly 

 hopping away. Glittering things attract its curiosity 

 and excite its cupidity, and many a lost article is 

 often recovered from the hiding-place to which it is 

 in the habit of carrying its plunder, and which by 

 watching its movements may be detected. 



1549. — The Nutcracker 

 (Nucifagra caryocatactes). Corvus caryocatactess, 

 Linneeus ; Casse-noix of the French ; Nocciolaja 

 of the Italians: Kurz und Langschnabliger Nuss- 

 knacker of Brehm ; Tanner Heher (Pine Jay) or 

 Tiirkischer Hobzschreyer of Frisch : Notwecka, 

 Notkraka, of the Swedes ; Noddekrige of the Nor- 

 wegians ; Aderyn y Crau of the ancient British, 



Among the birds which prove how difficult it is 

 to frame a system illustrative of natural affinities 

 may be enumerated the present. The nutcracker 

 in its general habits and manners resembles the jay, 

 but in many particulars it approximates to the 

 woodpeckers ; it climbs about the branches, using 

 its tail as a support, the feathers of which are often 

 much worn ; it bores the bark in search of insects, 

 and it nestles in the hollow of trees. Ornithologists 

 have, however, almost, universally referred it to the 

 Corvidae, between which and the woodpeckers it 

 forms a link of union. 



This species is of rare occurrence in our island, 

 being only a casual visitor, but is abundant in the 

 mountain forests of Norway, Sweden, and parts of 

 Germany, and in some districts is a bird of passage. 

 It is found also abundantly in Russia and Northern 

 Asia. The food of the nutcracker consists of the 

 seeds of the pine, berries, and nuts, which latter it 

 breaks by repeated strokes of the bill ; it also devours 

 insects and their larvae, in quest of which it climbs 

 about the trunk and branches, tapping the bark 

 with its bill, and inserting it into the crevices. It 

 is mostly seen in flocks, which allow of a near 

 approach, especially while busily engaged with the 



cones of the pine-trees. The holes of decayed 

 trees are the places selected by this bird for nidifica- 

 tion, and frequently enlarges the cavity with its 

 bill. The eggs are of a yellowish-grey colour, with 

 a few spots of bright grey-brown. Temminck states 

 that the nutcracker sometimes devours young birds 

 and eggs, like the jay. 



In size the nutcracker equals a jackdaw, but the 

 tail is longer and the form more slender. The 

 plumage is reddish umber-brown ; the body, with 

 the exception of the head and rump, being dappled 

 with large white spots, which occupy the centre of 

 each feather; wings and tail blackish shot with 

 green, the feathers of the latter, except the two 

 middle ones, tipped with white ; the plumage of 

 the female is less lively, the bill is longer than the 

 head, ancl conical ; the nostrils are concealed by 

 hairs directed forwards ; and of the anterior toes the 

 two outer ones are united at their base. 



An allied species, Nucifragahemispila, is a native 

 of the forests of the Himalaya range (see Gould's 

 ' Century'). The Prince of Canino refers the Corvus 

 Columbianus of Wilson (a native of the western 

 parts of North America) to the genus Nucifraga. 

 1550. — Pander's Podoces 



(Podoces Panderi). The genus Podoces was founded 

 by M. Fischer for a bird discovered by Dr. Pander 

 in the country of the Kirguis, beyond Oremburg, and 

 of which the habits of life are analogous to those of 

 the crows, and to the Corvidse he consequently refers 

 it. He gives the following as generic characters : — 

 Bill moderate, bending down at its point, without a 

 notch, and slightly angular: the under mandible 

 shorter than the lower, receiving and covering the 

 edges of it ; nostrils large and covered with setaceous 

 overhanging feathers ; feet robust and long ; claws 

 triangular, very pointed and but little curved. The 

 Podoces Panderi is said to fly badly, but walk well ; 

 it Jives in flocks. The general colour is greenish- 

 glaucous above ; line above the eyes white ; legs 

 greenish ; bill and claws black. 



1551. — The Bald-headed Crow 



(Picatharfes gymnocephalus, Lesson). This extra- 

 ordinary species (Corvus gymnocephalus of Tem- 

 minck), the native country of which is unknown, 

 constitutes the type of Lesson's genus Picathartes. 



In some respects it reminds one of the vultures of 

 the genus Cathartes, but, of its habits we are entirely 

 ignorant, nor are we thoroughly satisfied that it. 

 belongs to the Corvidse. The bill is moderate, the 

 base without hairs, and furnished'' with a cere; 

 nostrils in the middle of the bill, oval and open ; 

 head naked ; tarsi long ; claws feeble ; wings short 

 and rounded ; tail long ancl graduated. 



The following is Temminck's description of the 

 species: — "The naked parts of the head offer a 

 particular character. The whole of the auditory 

 meatus is completely destitute of feathers, and even 

 of hairs. A small border, or rudiment of membrane, 

 forms, below the orifice of the ear, a sort of external 

 concha, but little apparent, it is true, in the stuffed 

 specimen, but the extent of which must be remark- 

 able in the living bird. All this part of the organ 

 of hearing, aswell as apart of each side of the occiput, 

 is covered by a black skin with a slightly projecting 

 orbicular border, and forming a rounded plaque. 

 The cere which envelops the base of the bill is 

 also black. All the rest of the naked parts of the 

 head, the mesial line of the occiput, which separates 

 the black plaques of the temples, and the upper 

 part of the top of the neck, appear to me to have 

 been red or rosy in the living subject ; a slight tint 

 of rosy-yellow covers these parts in those before us. 

 The whole of the nape is covered, clearly, by a 

 whitish and very short down. The front of the neck 

 and all the other parts are white; the back, well 

 covered with thick-set feathers, is of an ashy-black ; 

 all the rest of the plumage is bistre-brown ; the feet 

 are yellow, and the bill" is black. Length fifteen 

 inches." (Temm.) 



The only specimen known was in the possession 

 of Mr. Leadbeater of London, and was conjectured 

 to have been brought from Guinea. Whether it 

 still remains in that gentleman's possession we have 

 not been able to ascertain. 



1552. — The Paradise Grakxe 

 (Cliahjbceus paradiseus). Paradisea viridis of 

 Gmelin; le Chalybe de la Nouvelle Guince, 

 Buffon ; le grand Chalybe of Le Vaillant ; Oiseau de 

 Paradis vert, of Sonnerat ; Chalybaeus paradiseeus, 

 Cuvier (1829). 



This brilliant species was by Gmelin referred to 

 the Birds of Paradise, and by Cuvier, in his last 

 edition of the ' Regne Animal,' to a position near the 

 Cassicans (Barita, Cuv.; Cracticus, Vieill.). It will 

 probably be found to constitute one of the Jinks 

 between the Corvidae and Paradiseidse. 



The Paradise Grakle lives solitary in the forests of 

 New Guinea, where it perches on the tallest, trees, 

 feeding upon fruits and berries. According to 



Lesson, its manners have a great analogy to those of 

 the crows. It is termed Mansineme in the Papuan 

 language. The length of this bird is nearly sixteen 

 inches. The beak is large and strong, as are also 

 the legs and toes. The plumage is iridescent 

 metallic green varying with tints of violet, burnished 

 on the neck and chest with gold and silver on a 

 steel-blue ground, Its history is yet to be ascer- 

 tained. 



Family PARAD1SEID.E (BIRDS OF PARA- 

 DISE). 



Among the feathered glories of creation the Birds 

 of Paradise take the first, rank. Nature has lavished 

 on them the most attractive graces of plumage and 

 the most effulgent tints. When first brought to 

 Europe, they were regarded with the utmost admira- 

 tion, and romantic credulity threw an additional air 

 of interest around them. They were regarded as 

 aerial sylphs, whose home was the bright expanse 

 of sky, where all the functions of life were carried on, 

 their only mode of rest being that of suspending 

 themselves occasionally from the branches by the 

 filamentous feathers of the tail ; legs they had none, 

 and they never touched the earth ; their food was 

 the morning's dew. This tissue of fiction did not, 

 however, originate with the traveller who first 

 introduced, as is supposed, the Bird of Paradise (P. 

 apoda) into Europe, viz., Antonio Pigafetta, who 

 accompanied Magalhaens in his expedition, and 

 returned to Seville in 1522. This voyage distinctly 

 notes the fact of the legs, which are strong and large, 

 being cut off by the natives previously to their 

 selling the skins. Marcgrave, Johnde Lael, Clusius 

 Wormius, and Bontius attested to the same fact. 

 Yet the celebrated Aklrovandus, having only seen 

 mutilated specimens, accused Pigafetta of falsehood. 

 Scaliger believed the bird to be footles*, as did 

 Jonston (1657) ; and, last, Count, de Buffon, who 

 adorning errors in the graces of polished diction, 

 paints them as birds" qui tie marchent ni nenngent, 

 et ne peuvent prendre de mouvement qu'en volant." 

 This fable Linnaeus has commemorated in the 

 appropriation of the term Apoda to one of the most 

 remarkable species. 



The Birds of Paradise are natives of New Guinea 

 and the adjoining islands. 



Previously, however, to introducing the true Birds 

 of Paradise to attention, we must refer to a magnifi- 

 cent denizen of New Guinea, for which Vieillot has 

 founded the genus Astrapia, and which he placed 

 near those birds, though it approximates in some 

 points to the thrushes, in which family group Cuvier 

 arranges it, under the name of Merle de la Guinee. 

 It is the following: 



1553. — The Incomparable 



(Astrapia (jularis). Pie de Paradis. This bird "is 

 distinguislied by a tail three times longer than the 

 body, a double crest on the head, and by incom- 

 parable magnificence of plumage," which glitters a 

 blaze of iridescence. It is a native of New Guinea, 

 but is by no means common, and we know nothing 

 respecting its habits. The female is not crested, 

 and her colours are less brilliant than those of her 

 gorgeous mate. 



Of the true Birds of Paradise we may direct at- 

 tention to the following species : 



1554, 1555. — The King Bird of Paradise 



(Cincinniirus reghis). Paradisea regia, Linn.; le 

 Manucode of Buffon. This rare species, one of the 

 smallest of the group, is a native of the Moluccas. 

 It is about the size of a sparrow. Its upper plumage 

 is intense purplish chestnut : a zone of golden green 

 extends across the chest ; from each side under the 

 shoulder springs a fan-like plume of six or seven 

 dusky feathers, tipped with the richest golden green ; 

 from the tail-coverts spring two long slender shafts, 

 each elegantly terminating in a broad emerald web, 

 rising from one side only of the shaft, and disposed 

 into a flat curl ; under parts of body white. In its 

 habits this species is said to be solitary, feeding on 

 fruits and berries. 



1556. — The Superb Bird of Paradise 

 (Lophorina superba). Paradisea superba, Linn, ; 

 le Superbe, Buffon. In this species the scapulary 

 feathers form a long spreading plume capable of 

 being elevated at pleasure, and there are two pointed 

 lappets on the chest ; with the exception of these 

 latter, which are of the most brilliant burnished 

 steel-green, the colour of the plumage is velvet- 

 black, iridescent with green and violet. Length 

 nine inches. 



1557._The Golden Bird of Paradise 

 (Parotia sexsetacea). Paradisea aurea, Linn. ; le 

 Sifilet, Buffon. The general colour of this species 

 is velvety-black; the top of the head is clothed 

 with a greyish crest, and each side of the occiput is 

 ornamented with three long slender shafts, ending 

 in a small oval vane ; back of the neck changeable 



