PARADISE A MINOR. 



flies thus from the influence of heat, and likes the shade of the thick and bushy foliage of the teak trees. It 

 rarely leaves these trees in the middle of the day ; and it is only in the morning and evening that it is seen 

 seeking its food. Ordinarily, when it believes itself to be alone, it utters a piercing cry, rendering with 

 exactitude the syllables voihe, voike, voike, strongly articulated. These cries, at the time of our sojourn in New 

 Guinea in July, appeared to us to be a call; for the females, grouped in small numbers on the surrounding 

 trees, then obeyed the voice of love. Never among these troops did we see more than one male strutting 

 proudly in the midst of these plainly appareUed individuals, whilst he, plumed dandy, resembled a cock who 

 shouts victory after having beaten a rival and gained the sovreignty of a poultry-yard. Is the little Emerald 

 Bird of Paradise, then, a polygamist? or is this disproportionate number of females owing to the continual chase 

 after the males, which causes this scarcity, whilst the females are neglected and aUowed to live in peace without fear 

 of man, having only to protect themselves from their natural enemies the beasts of the woods? Attracted by this 

 voike, voike, we found it easy in our hunts to follow the Birds of Paradise, and to kill a pretty large number. 

 The first one we saw astonished us so much that the gun remained quiet in our hand, so profound was our 

 wonderment. We walked with care in the tracks made by the wild boars, in the deep shades of the bushes 

 surrounding the harbour of Dorey, when a little Emerald Paradise Bird, flying above our heads with graceful 

 and easy flight, seemed to us like a meteor, of which the tad of fire left behind a mass which filled the air 

 with a long train of light. When an unaccustomed sound strikes the ear of the little Emerald Bird of 

 Paradise, it becomes perfectly quiet ; it remains hidden in the deep foliage that conceals it from the view 

 of the hunter ; but if the sound continues, it soon flies away. It perches upon the highest branches of the 

 loftiest trees of New Guinea ; and it is very difficult to shoot without using long-range guns ; for it does not 

 fall unless shot dead, and the distance from which it is necessary to shoot is not less than one hundred and 

 fifty paces. It is unnecessary to say heavy shot are required. When it is only wounded, it expires in the 

 thickets ; however, we happened one day to find, dying upon the banks of a pond in the bed of a half-dried 

 torrent, one of these birds which had been wounded the day before. It is, then, in the evening or, better, 

 the morning that the hunter must be on the watch, after having carefully reconnoitred the trees filled with 

 fruit, to which the Paradise-birds resort. There, perfectly still, he awaits patiently the advent of the Emeralds, 

 soon foretold by their harsh and strong cry. At the time of our stay in the land of promise for naturalists 

 (from the 26th of July to the 9th of August), these fairy creatures searched for the fleshy buds of the teak 

 trees, but above all for the pinky white, very mucilaginous fruits of the fig-tree. We always found insects 

 in their crops ; and during our sojourn at Amboina two Emerald Birds of Paradise, which we saw ahve at 

 the house of a rich Chinese merchant, were fed with large moths and boded rice." 



Mr. Wallace procured many specimens of this beautiful bird during his travels among the islands of the Indian 

 archipelago ; for, unlike its larger relative, the present species inhabits several different islands, as well as being a 

 native also of the mainland of New Guinea. I may remark here that Mr. Wallace was the first to send many of 

 the different species of the Birds of Paradise in a perfect state to Europe ; for, previously to his visit, nothing but 

 the mutilated skins prepared by the natives had been received by collectors, giving a very imperfect idea of the 

 surpassing beauty of the birds. " The Paradisea papuana," says this gentleman, " has a comparatively wide range, 

 being the common species on the mainland of New Guinea, as well as on the islands of Mysol, Salwatty, Jobie, 

 Biak and Sook. On the south coast of New Guinea, the Dutch naturalist Muller found it at the Oetanata river, in 

 longitude 136° E. I obtained it myself at Dorey ; and the captain of the Dutch steamer Etna informed me that 

 he had seen the feathers among the natives of Humboldt Bay, 141° E. longitude. It is very probable, therefore, that 

 it ranges over the whole of the mainland of New Guinea. The true Paradise-birds are omnivorous, feeding on fruits 

 and insects, — of the former preferring small figs ; of the latter, grasshoppers, locusts and phasmas, as well as 

 cockroaches and caterpillars. When I returned home in 1862, I was so fortunate as to find two adult males of 

 this species in Singapore ; and as they seemed healthy, and fed voraciously on rice, bananas, and cockroaches, I 

 determined on giving the very high price asked for them (.€100), and to bring them to England by the overland 

 route under my own care. On my way home I stayed a week at Bombay to break the journey, and to lay in 

 a fresh stock of bananas for my birds. I had great difficulty, however, in supplying them with insect food; for in 



