PARADISE A SANGUINEA. 



RED BIRD OF PARADISE. 



RED BIRD OF PARADISE, Lath. Gen. Hist, of Birds (1822), vol. iii. p. 186. sp. 4. 



PARADISEA SANGUINEA, Shaw, Gen. Zool. (1809) vol. vii. pt. i. p. 487, pi. 59, (1826) vol. xiv. p. 76.— Gray, Hand-1. Birds (1870), pt. ii. 

 p. 16. sp. 6249. 



PARADISEA RUBRA, Vieill. Gal. Ois. (1825) vol. i. p. 152, pi. 99.— Less. Trait. Ornith. (1831) p. 336, pi. 3— Id. Voy. Coquil. (1826) pi. 27, 

 text. p. 660.— Schleg. Mus. Pays-Bas (1867), p. 84.— Cuv. Regn. Anim. (1829) vol. i. p. 427.— Gray, Gen. Birds, vol. ii. pi. 79.— Wagl. 

 Syst. Av. (1827) sp. 3— Schleg. Dier. fig. p.471.— Bon. Consp. Gen. (1850) p. 413. sp. 3.— Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1861) p. 436.— 

 Wall. Proc. Zool. Soc. (1862) p. 160.— Id. Ibis, (1859) p. Ill, (1861) p. 287.— Bechst. Kurze Ueber. (1811) p. 131. sp. 3— Wall. 

 Malay Archip. vol. ii. pp. 214, 221, 243.— Schleg. Journ. fiir Ornith. (1861) p. 385.— Von. Rosenb. Journ. fur Ornith. (1864) p. 129 — 

 Schleg. Tijdsch. Dierk. pt. ii. p. 249.— Less. Ois. Parad. (1835) Syn. p. 8. sp. 3 ; Hist. Nat. p. 160, pis. 7 & 8. 



L'OISEAU DE PARADIS ROUGE, Levaill. Hist. Nat. des Ois. Parad. (1806) vol. i. pi. 6. 



LE PARADIS ROUGE, Vieill. Ois. dor. (1802) vol. ii. p. 14, pi. 3. 



Hab. Waigiou (Wallace), islands of Ghemien and Batanta (Bernstein). 



This beautiful bird, remarkable for the rich red plumes that spring from its sides and afford so conspicuous a 

 decoration, is found upon the island of Waigiou and the neighbouring ones of Ghemien and Batanta. The list 

 of synonyms given above will serve to show that for a long time it has been known to, and quoted by, many 

 authors ; yet we were practically ignorant of its nature and mode of life until Mr. Wallace visited one of the 

 islands where it has its home, and published his account of it in the work to which I have so often had occasion to 

 allude. I will let Mr. Wallace tell his story in his own words regarding the capture of this beautiful species. 



"When I first arrived I was surprised at being told that there were no Paradise-birds at Muka, although there 

 were plenty at Bessir, a place where the natives caught them and prepared the skins. I assured the people I 

 had heard the cry of these birds close to the village ; but they would not believe that I could know their cry. 

 However, the very first time I went into the forest I not only heard but saw them, and was convinced there 

 were plenty about; but they were very shy, and it was some time before we got any. My hunter first 

 shot a female; and I one day got very close to a fine male. He was, as I expected, the rare red species, 

 Paradisea rubra, which alone inhabits this island, and is found nowhere else. He was quite low down, running 

 along a bough searching for insects, almost like a Woodpecker; and the long black riband-like filaments in his 

 tail hung down in the most graceful double curve imaginable. I covered him with my gun, and was going to use 

 the barrel, which had a very small charge of powder and No. 8 shot, so as not to injure his plumage; but the 

 gun missed fire, and he was off in an instant among the thickest jungle. Another day we saw no less than 

 eight fine males at different times, and fired four times at them ; but though other birds at the same distance almost 

 always dropped, these all got away, and I began to think we were never to get this magnificent species. At length 

 the fruit ripened on the fig-tree close to my house, and many birds came to feed on it ; and one morning, as I was 

 taking my coffee, a male Paradise-bird was seen to settle on its top. I seized my gun, ran under the tree, and, 

 gazing up, could see it flying across from branch to branch seizing a fruit here, and another there ; and then, before 

 I could get a sufficient aim to shoot at such a height (for it was one of the loftiest trees of the tropics), it 

 was away into the forest. They now visited the tree every morning ; but they stayed so short a time, their 

 motions were so rapid, and it was so difficult to see them, owing to the lower trees which impeded the view, 

 that it was only after several days' watching, and one or two misses, that I brought down my bird — a male in 

 the most magnificent plumage. # * # # I had only shot two Paradiseas on my tree when they ceased visiting it, 

 either owing to the fruit becoming scarce, or that they were wise enough to know there was danger. We continued 

 to hear and see them in the forest, but after a month had not succeeded in shooting any more; and as my chief 

 object in visiting Waigiou was to get these birds, I determined to go to Bessir, where there are a number of 



