DIPHYLLODES SPECIOSA. 



MAGNIFICENT BIRD OF PARADISE. 



PARADISEA SPECIOSA, Bodd. Tabl. Plan. Enlum. D'Aub. (1783). 



PARADISEA MAGNIFICA, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. (1788) p. 401. sp. 4.— Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. ii. (1790) p. 194.— Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. vii. 



(1809) pt. 2, p. 492, pi. 62 ; vol. xiv. (1826) p. 76.— Less. Trait. Ornith. (1831) p. 338.— Wagl. Syst. Av. pi. i. (1827) sp. 4.— Wall. 



Proc. Zool. Soc. (1862) p. 160.— Bechst. Kurze Uebers. (1811) p. 132. sp. 5 — Cuv. Regn. Anim. vol. i. (1829) p. 427. 

 CRESTED PARADISE-BIRD, Lath. Gen. Hist. vol. hi. (1822) p. 190. sp. 7- 

 LE MAGNIFIQUE, Vieill. Ois. Dor. vol. ii. (1802) p. 15, pi. 4. 



LE MANUCODE A. BOUQUETS, Buff. Plan. Enlum. vol. hi. (1774) p. 194, t. 631.— Briss. Hist, des Ois. vol. hi. (1775) p. 166.— Levaill. 



Hist. Nat. des. Ois. Parad. vol. i. (1806) pis. 9, 10, & 11. 

 L'OISEAU DE PARADIS SURNOMME LE MAGNIFIQUE, Sonn. Voy. Nouv. Guin. (1776) p. 163, pi. 98. 



MAGNIFICENT PARADISE-BIRD, Lath. Gen. Syn. vol. ii. (1782) p. 477, pi. xix.— Id. Gen. Hist. Birds, vol. hi. (1822) p. 189, pi. xlv. 



PARADISEA CIRRHATA, Lath. Ind. Ornith. (1790) p. 195. sp. 4.— Bechst. Kurze Uebers. (1811) p. 132. sp. 6. 



DIPHYLLODES SELEUCIDES, Less. Ois. Parad. (1835) Syn. p. 16. sp. 7.— Hist. Nat. p. 191, pis. 19 & 20. 



DIPHYLLODES MAGNIFICA, Gray, List Gen. Birds (1855), p. 65.— Wall. Ibis, (1861) p. 287.— Bon. Consp. Gen. Av. p. 413. 



PARADISEA SPECIOSA, Gray, Gen. Birds, vol. ii. p. 323. sp. 4— Id. Hand-list Birds, pt. ii. (1870) p. 16. no. 6251.— Schleg. Mus. Pays-Bas 



(1867), p. 86— Id. Journ. fur Ornith. (1861) p. 386.— Id. Tijdsch. Dierk. pts. iv. & v. pp. 17, 49. 

 DIPHYLLODES SPECIOSA, Wall. Malay Archip. vol. ii. p. 247. 

 DIPHYLLODES MAGNIFICA, Von Rosenb. Journ. fur Ornith. (1864) p. 130. 



Hab. New Guinea, Salwatty, Waigiou, Mysol (Wallace) ; Joby (Schlegel). 



This magnificent Bird of Paradise belongs to a group of winch at present but two species are known, viz. the one now 

 under consideration, and its relative the beautiful little D. respublica. They are distinguished by yellow mantles 

 springing from the back part of the neck, and also by two singular wire-like feathers starting from the lower part of 

 the rump, crossing each other just beyond the end of the tail, and then curving outwards into a large nearly complete 

 circle. Mr. Wallace did not obtain this species ; but through the exertions of the Dutch collectors beautiful specimens 

 have been transmitted to Europe by Mr. Bernstein, who was sent out to the Indian archipelago by the officers of 

 the Leyden Museum. Mr. Wallace says, "from what we know of the allied species, we may be sure that the 

 greatly developed plumage of this bird is erected and displayed in some remarkable manner. The mass of feathers 

 on the under surface are probably expanded into a hemisphere, while the beautiful yellow mantle is no doubt elevated 

 so as to give the bird a very different appearance from that which it presents in the dried and flattened skins of the 

 natives, through which alone it is at present known. The feet appear to be dark blue." Although the male of this 

 beautiful species possesses such a magnificent dress, the female is a most unpretending-looking little bird, clothed 

 in a suit of modest brown, crossed on the underparts with a darker brown. She is not unlike in appearance the 

 female of the Cicinnurus regius, being a little larger, however, in size. It is a singular fact that though, in many 

 species of the birds of this family, the males are as widely different in the colours and style of their plumage as 

 can be conceived, yet the females differ chiefly in size, and would never suggest the idea that they would produce 

 male offspring possessing, as regards their feathers, no character in common. 



Although this beautiful species has been known to ornithologists for nearly a century, yet up to the present time 

 nothing has been related of its habits and economy, and its nest and eggs have never yet been met with by any 

 collector who has obtained the bird in its native home. 



Male. — Top of head rich brown, with a light greenish gloss ; behind the eyes rufous, fighter than the crown. 

 Feathers of the forehead, extending o^er the bill and covering the nostrils, deep rich chestnut, with a few metallic- 

 green feathers interspersed amid the others ; over and in front of the eyes a dark green metallic spot ; ear-coverts 

 and cheeks chestnut : a light straw-coloured mantle springs from the upper part of the neck just below the occiput, 



