xxiv 



INTRODUCTION. 



to indicate that it separated from Waigiou at a later period than it did from Salwatty, as it contains no species of 

 Paradiseae met with in the last-named island. Waigiou also contains the New-Guinea species Manucodia atra. 



The large island of Gilolo, and its neighbour Batchian, contain but one species of this family, the Semioptera 

 Wallacii ; and this is the furthest north that any of the Paradises are found. The islands of Jobie, Biak, and 

 Sook, lying at the mouth of the great Bay of Geelwink, contain the Paradisea minor, which is found upon them 

 all, while upon the large island of Jobie, lying furthest in the bay and almost touching the eastern shore of 

 New Guinea, two other species, the Cicinnurus regius and Diphyllodes speciosa, are also found. The specimens of 

 Paradisea minor procured from Jobie are remarkable for their size and the brilliant colour of their flowing plumes; 

 and some equal in extent P. apoda ; but they cannot in any way be regarded as possessing specific 

 characters to separate them from individuals of P. minor procured elsewhere. At Mount Arfak, near the Bay 

 of Geelwink, M. d'Albertis procured the beautiful Paradisea raggiana and the extraordinary Drepanornis Albertisi. 

 The Aru group of islands lying to the south of New Guinea contains five species of this family — the Paradisea 

 apoda and Mlurcedus melanotis (the last of which is not met with elsewhere), Cicinnurus regius, Chalybea atra, and 

 Manucodia Keraudreni. 



The continent of Australia contains several species that I regard as belonging to the family of the Paradiseidae ; 

 and the first which I mention is the Ptiloris Alberti, found in the north-eastern part, on the peninsula known 

 as Cape York, that stretches upwards towards New Guinea, with which at one time it was doubtless con- 

 nected. This species has been confounded with the Ptiloris magnificus by all authors ; but it is very distinct 

 at the present day, although it probably had the same origin as the New-Guinea form. Off the north-eastern 

 coast, on the Barnard Islands, another species of Ptiloris is found — P. Victories, which seems to be restricted 

 to this group. It is very closely allied to the P. paradiseus of New Guinea, but has been generally recognized 

 as distinct. Upon the northern coast, in the vicinity of Port Essington, the Chlamydodera nuchalis is met with ; 

 but how far it proceeds into the interior is unknown. At Cape York is also found the Chlamydodera cerviniventris, 

 which has its nearest ally in the C. xanthogastra of the interior of New Guinea. On the eastern coast the 

 Sericulus melinus is found as far south as Sydney, which seems to be its limit in that direction ; while New South 

 Wales appears to be the habitat of Ptilonorhynckus violaceus, JElurcedus crassirostris, and Chlamydodera maculata. 



By the foregoing review of the geographical distribution of the members of the Paradiseidse we see that some 

 species are restricted, in certain cases, to one single group of islands — while others inhabit several situated widely 

 apart, such as Diphyllodes speciosa and Seleucides alba, which are found on both sides of New Guinea ; and we 

 can only account for this rather curious fact by the supposition that they also inhabit the mainland across its 

 whole extent. Another singular fact is that the same species, such as Semioptera Wallacii, which inhabits 

 contiguous islands of the same group, begins to show in individuals from different localities, such as Gilolo and 

 Batchian, an inclination to assume a distinct style of dress, which will probably in the course of time cause them 

 to be ranked as distinct species ; while other species, such as Diphyllodes speciosa, inhabiting islands widely 

 separated, presents in all the localities in which it is known to occur the same style of form and plumage. 

 There is indeed, in the specimen called by Mr. Gould Diphyllodes chrysoptera, a tendency to assume a greater 

 intensity of colour upon certain parts of its plumage ; but as we do not know where the bird was procured, 

 and as it can hardly be said at present to be more than a local style of D. speciosa (even if it be hereafter 

 ascertained to be from another island than any in which the typical form occurs), it is not as yet sufficient to 

 indicate why S. Wallacii should undergo a certain change and D. speciosa not. 



Even the Paradisea minor, the most widely distributed of all the Birds of Paradise, so far as our present know- 

 ledge enables us to judge, does in certain islands, as has been already mentioned when speaking of Jobie, differ 

 from what has always been considered the typical style, and in its greater size approaches so nearly to that of 

 P. apoda that its specific name of minor seems inappropriate ; while the more lengthened plumes and deeper 

 colour of these specimens cause them to be conspicuous even when lying by the side of others of the same 

 species having different habitats. It would thus seem that (perhaps in the majority of instances) when a species 

 inhabits different islands separated more or less widely apart, and in each one presents a style peculiar to itself and 

 differing in certain points from what may be regarded as the typical form, it cannot by any means be deemed 

 a fact that, merely because an animal does inhabit two or more islands, individuals from each must of necessity 



