Birds of Paradise.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



347 



golden green; flanks covered with black loose long 

 feathers, covering the wings and hiding 1he tail, and 

 capable of being raised up obliquely. Feathers of 

 the throat large and scale-shaped, bordered with 

 iridescent green and gold; tail-feathers velvety, 

 With some long floating filaments. Length about 

 eleven inches. 



1558. — The Magnificent Bird of Paradise 

 (Samalia magnified). Paradisea magnifica, Linn. ; 

 le Magnifique of Buffon. This beautiful bird is of 

 an orange-chestnut above, deeper on the top of the 

 head and back, and sometimes inclining to purple ; 

 the tips of the wings and the tail are brown; Ihe 

 throat is blackish, with a purple gloss; the breast 

 and under parts are covered with scale-shaped 

 feathers of a deep changeable golden green, with a 

 blue reflection down the breast. From the back of 

 the neck springs a double ruff, composed of slen- 

 der plumes, with slightly dilated extremities ; the 

 first series are short and orange-coloured, with a 

 black spot at the end of each "feather ; the others 

 are longer and pale yellow. The wing-coverts arc 

 orange-coloured, with transverse blackish crescents ; 

 from the tail-coverts spring two long slender shafts 

 of golden green. 



1559, 1560, 1561. — Emerald Bird of Paradtsts 

 {Paradisea apoda). Body above, breast, and abdo- 

 men, marroon- brown ; front covered with close-set 

 feathers of a velvety-black, shot with emerald-green ; 

 top of the head and upper part of the neck citron- 

 yellow ; upper part of the throat golden green ; front 

 of the neck violet-brown ; flanks adorned with 

 bundles of very long plumes, with loose barbules of a 

 yellowish-white, slightly spotted towards the ex- 

 tremity with purpled-red : these plumes extend far 

 beyond the tail-feathers. Two long horny shafts, 

 furnished with stiff hairs, take their rise on each side 

 of the jump, and extend somewhat circularly to 

 a length of nearly two feet. Beak horn-colour; feet, 

 lead-colour ; length from the end of the beak to the 

 extremity of the tail-feathers, thirteen inches. 



Female. — Front and fore part of the neck of a 

 deep marroon-brown ; head, neck, and back red- 

 dish-yellow; wings and tail of a deep and brilliant 

 marroon-colour ; bellyand breast white ; no floating 

 plumes. (Fig. 1561.) 



This species, which is not so common as the little 

 emerald (Paradisea Papuensis, Latham), inhabits 

 the islands of Arou, Tidor, and Wagiou, as well as 

 New Guinea. 



We owe the most modern account of these birds 

 in a state of nature to M. Lesson, who, though he 

 deeply laments his short stay at New Guinea (only 

 thirteen days), appears to have made the best use of 

 his time. 



" The Birds of Paradise," says M. Lesson, " or at 

 least the emerald (Paradisea apoda, Linn.), the only 

 species concerning which we possess authentic in- 

 telligence, live in troops in the vast forests of the 

 country of the Papuans, a group of islands situated 

 under the equator, and which is composed of the 

 islands Arou, Wagiou, and the great island called 

 New Guinea. They are birds of passage, changing 

 their quarters according to the monsoons. The fe- 

 males congregate in troops, assemble upon the tops 

 of the highest trees in the forests, and all cry 

 together to call the males. These last are always 

 alone in the midst of some fifteen females, which 

 compose their seraglio, after the manner of the gal- 

 linaceous birds. 



"The Manucode presented itself twice in our 

 shooting excursions, and we killed the male and fe- 

 male. This species would seem to be monogamous, 

 or perhaps it is only separated into pairs at the pe- 

 riod of laying. In the woods this bird has no bril- 

 liancy ; its fine- coloured plumage is not discovered, 

 and the tints of the female are dull. It loves to 

 take its station on the teak-trees, whose ample 

 foliage shelters it, and whose small fruit forms its 

 nourishment. Its hides are brown, and the feet are 

 of a delicate azure. The Papuans call it Saya. 



" Soon after our arrival on this land of promise 

 (New Guinea) for the naturalist, I was on a shoot- 

 ing excursion. Scarcely had I walked some hun- 

 dred paces in those ancient forests, the daughters of 

 time, whose sombre depth was perhaps the most 

 magnificent and stately sight that I had ever seen, 

 when a Bird of Paradise struck my view : it flew 

 gracefully and in undulations ; the feathers of its 

 sides formed an elegant and aerial plume, which, 

 without exaggeration, bore no remote resemblance 

 to a brilliant meteor. Surprised, astounded, enjoy- 

 ing an inexpressible gratification, I devoured this 

 splendid bird with my eyes ; but my emotion was 

 so great that I forgot to shoot at it, and did not re- 

 collect that I had a gun in my hand till it was far 

 away. 



" One can scarcely have a just idea of the Para- 

 dise-birds from the skins which the Papuans sell to 

 the Malays, and which come to us in Europe. These 

 people formerly hunted the birds to decorate the 



turbans of their chiefs. They call them Mambe- 

 fore in their tongue, and kill them during the night 

 by climbing the trees where they perch, and shoot- 

 ing them with arrows made for the purpose, and 

 very short, which they make with the stem of the 

 leaves of a palm (latanier). The Campongs or vil- 

 lages of Mappia and of Emberbakene are celebrated 

 for the quantity of birds which they prepare, and all 

 the art of their inhabitants is directed to taking off 

 the feet, skinning, thrusting a little stick through 

 the body, and drying it in the smoke. Some, more 

 adroit, at the solicitation of the Chinese merchants, 

 dry them with the feet on. The price of a Bird of 

 Paradise among the Papuans of the coast is a piastre 

 at least. We killed, during our slay at New 

 Guinea, a score of these birds, which I prepared for 

 the most part. . 



"The. emerald, when alive, is of the size of the com- 

 mon jay: its feet and beak are bluish; the hides 

 are of a brilliant yellow ; its motions are lively and 

 agile ; and in general, it never perches except upon 

 the summit of the most lofty trees. When it de- 

 scends, it is for the purpose of eating the fruits of 

 the lesser trees, or when the sun in full power com- 

 pels it to seek the shade. It has a fancy for certain 

 trees, and makes the neighbourhood re-echo with its 

 piercing voice. This cry indicated to us the move- 

 ments of these birds. "We were on the watch for 

 them, and it was thus that we came to kill them ; 

 for when a male Bird of Paradise has perched, and 

 hears a rustling in the stillness of the forest, he is 

 silent and does not. move. His call is voike, voike, 

 voike, voiho, strongly articulated. The cry of the 

 female is the same, but she raises it much more 

 feebly. The latter, deprived of the brilliant plumage 

 of the male, is clad in sombre attire. We met with 

 them assembled in scores, on every tree, while the 

 males, always solitary, appeared but rarely. 



" It is at the rising and setting of the sun that the 

 Bird of Paradise goes to seek its food. In the 

 middle of the day it remains hidden under the ample 

 foliage of the teak-tree, and comes not forth. It 

 seems to dread the scorching rays of the sun, and to 

 be unwilling to expose itself to the attacks of a 

 rival 



"In order to shoot Birds of Paradise, travellers 

 who visit New Guinea should remember that it is 

 necessary to leave the ship early in the morning, to 

 arrive at the foot of a teak-tree or fig-tree, which 

 these birds frequent for the sake of the fruit — 

 (our stay was from the 26th of July to the 9th of 

 August)— before halt-past four, and to remain mo- 

 tionless till some of the males, urged by hunger, 

 light upon the branches within range. It is indis- 

 pensably requisite to have a gun which will carry 

 very far with effect, and that the grains of shot 

 should be large; for it. is very difficult to kill an 

 emerald outright, and if he be only wounded it is 

 very seldom that he is not lost in thickets so dense 

 that there is no finding the way without a compass. 



"The little emerald Paradise-bird (Paradisea Pa- 

 puensis) feeds, without doubt, on many substances 

 in a state of liberty. I can affirm that it lives on 

 the seeds of the teak-tree, and on a fruit called ami- 

 hot], of a rosy white, insipid and mucilaginous, of 

 the size of a small European fig, and which belongs 

 to a tree of the genus Ficus." 



M. Lesson then goes on to state that he saw two 

 Birds of Paradise which had been kept in a cage for 

 more than six months by the principal Chinese 

 merchant at Amboyna. They were always in mo- 

 tion, and were fed with boiled rice, but they had a 

 special fondness for cockroaches (blattse). 



Bennett, in his 'Wanderings,' gives the following 

 account of a Bird of Paradise (Paradisea apoda) 

 which he found in Mr. Beale's aviary at Macao, 

 where it had been confined nine years, exhibiting 

 no appearance of age : — 



"This elegant creature has a light, playful, and 

 graceful manner, with an arch look ; dances about 

 when a visitor approaches the cage, and seems 

 delighted at being made an object of admira- 

 tion ; its notes are very peculiar, resembling the 

 cawing of the raven, but its tones are by far 

 more varied. During four months of the year, from 

 May to August, it moults. It washes itself regu- 

 larly twice daily, and, after having performed its 

 ablutions, throws its delicate feathers up nearly over 

 the head, the quills of which feathers have a pecu- 

 liar structure, so as to enable the bird to effect this 

 object. Its food during confinement is boiled rice, 

 mixed up with soft egg, together with plantains, 

 and living insects of the grasshopper tribe ; these 

 insects, when thrown to him, the bird contrives to 

 catch in his beak with great celerity : it will eat in- 

 sects in a living state, but will not touch them when 

 dead. 



" I observed the bird, previously to eating a grass- 

 hopper given him in an entire or unmutilated "state, 

 place the insect upon the perch, keep it firmly fixed 

 with the claws, and divesting it of the legs, wings, 

 &c, devour it, with the head always placed first. 

 The servant, who attends upon him to clean the 



cage, give him food, &c, strips off the legs, wings, 

 &c, of the insects when alive, giving them to the 

 bird as fast as he can devour them. It rarely alights 

 upon the ground, and so proud is the creature of its 

 elegant dress, that it never permits a soil to remain 

 upon it, and it may frequently be seen spreading 

 out its wings and feathers, and regarding its splendid 

 self in every direction, to observe whether the whole 

 of its plumage is in an unsullied condition. It does 

 not suffer from the cold weather during the winter 

 season at Macao, though exposing the elegant bird 

 to the bleak northerly wind is always very particu- 

 larly avoided 



" The sounds uttered by this bird are very pecu- 

 liar ; that which appears to be a note of congratula- 

 tion resembles somewhat the cawing of a raven, but 

 changes to a varied scale of musical gradations, aa 

 he, hi, ho, haw, repeated rapidly and frequently, as 

 lively and playfully he hops round and along his 

 perch, descending to the second perch to be ad- 

 mired, and congratulate the stranger who has made 

 a visit to inspect him ; he frequently raises his voice,, 

 sending forth notes of such power as to be heard at 

 a long distance, and as it could scarcely be supposed 

 so delicate a bird could utter ; these notes are ivhock, 

 whock, whock, whocli, uttered in a barking tone, the 

 last being given in a low tone, as a conclusion. 



"A drawing of the bird, of the natural size, was 

 made by a Chinese artist. The bird advanced stead- 

 fastly towards the picture, uttering at the same time 

 its cawing congratulatory notes ; it did not appear 

 excited by rage, but pecked gently at the repre- 

 sentation, jumping about the perch, knocking its 

 mandibles together with a clattering noise, and 

 cleaning them against the perch, as if welcoming 

 the arrival of a companion. After the trial of the 

 picture, a looking-glass was brought, to see what 

 effect it would produce upon the bird, and the re- 

 sult was nearly the same ; he regarded the reflec- 

 tion of himself most steadfastly in the mirror, never 

 quitting it during the time it remained before him.. 

 When the glass was removed to the lower from the 

 upper perch he instantly followed, but would not 

 descend upon the floor of the cage when it was 

 placed so low 



" One of the best, opportunities of seeing this 

 splendid bird in all its beauty of action, as well as 

 display of plumage, is early in the morning, when 

 he makes his toilet ; the beautiful subalar plumage 

 is then thrown out, and cleaned from any spot that 

 may sully its purity by being passed gently through 

 the bill ; the short chocolate-coloured wings are ex- 

 tended to the utmost, and as he keeps them in a 

 steady, flapping motion, as if in imitation of their 

 use in flight, at the same timc-raising up the deli- 

 cate long feathers over the back, which are spread 

 in a chaste and elegant manner, floating like films 

 in the ambient air 



" I never yet. beheld a soil on its feathers. After 

 expanding the wings, it would bring them together 

 so as to conceal the head, then bending it gracefully, 

 it would inspect the state of its plumage under- 

 neath. This action it repeats in quick succession, 

 uttering at the time its croaking notes ; it then 

 pecks and cleans its plumage in every part within 

 reach, and throwing out the elegant and delicate 

 tuft of feathers underneath the wings, seemingly 

 with much care, and with not a little pride, they 

 are cleaned in succession, if required, by throwing 

 them abroad, elevating them, and passing them in 

 succession through the bill. Then turning its back 

 to the spectator, the actions above mentioned are 

 repeated, but not in so careful a manner : elevating 

 its tail and long shaft feathers, it raises the delicate 

 plumage of a similar character to the subalar, form- 

 ing a beautiful dorsal crest, and, throwing its feathers 

 up with much grace, appears as proud as a lady 

 dressed in her full ball-dress. Having completed 

 the toilet, he utters the usual cawing notes, at the 

 same time looking archly at the spectators, as if 

 ready to receive all the admiration that it considers- 

 its elegant form and display of plumage demands ; 

 it then takes exercise by hopping, in a rapid but 

 graceful manner, from one end of the upper perch 

 to the other, and descends suddenly upon the second 

 perch, close to the bars of the cage, looking out for 

 the grasshoppers which it is accustomed to receive 

 at the time 



"His prehensile power in the feet is very strong, 

 and, still retaining his hold, the bird will turn him- 

 self round upon the perch. He delights to be shel- 

 tered from the glare of the sun, as that luminary is a 

 great source of annoyance to him if permitted to 

 dart its fervant rays directly upon the cage. The 

 iris, frequently expanding and contracting, adds to 

 the arch look of this animated bird, as he throws 

 the head on one side to glance at visitors, uttering 

 the cawing notes or barking loud. . . . Hav- 

 ing concluded, he jumps down to the lower perch 

 in search of donations of living grasshoppers. 



"The bird is not at all ravenous in its habits of 

 feeding, but it eats rice leisurely, almost grain by 

 e-rain. Should any of the insects thrown into his 



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