534 



WJIGIOU. 



fciiAi". x.vxri. 



resting a iiioiiumt the fii at day till n ightfall. The seen mi 

 day they were always less active, altliouyh they would 

 tat m freely as before ; and on the morning of the third 

 day they were alnioat always found dead at tlie hottom 

 of Uiy c^ge, without any apparent cause. Some of them 

 ale tioiled rice m well as fruit and insects ; hut after 

 trying many in succession, not one out of ten lived more 

 than three days. The second or third day they woiihl be 

 dull, and in several cases they were seized with convul- 

 sions, and fell olT the perch, dying a few houra aller- 

 wards. I tried immature as well as fiill-plurnaged hiixia, 

 but with no better success, and at lengtli gave it up as a 

 hopeless task, ami confined my attention to preserving 

 specimens in as good a condition as possible. 



The Red Birds of Paradise are not shot with hliint arrows, 

 as in the Am Islands and some parts of New Guinea, but 

 are snared in a very ingenious manner. A large climbing 

 Amm beai-s a red reticulated fruit, of which the birds are 

 very fond. The hunters tVistcu this fruit on a stuut forked 

 stick, and provide themselve.'s with a fine but strong cord. 

 Tliey then seek out some tree in the forest on which these 

 liirds are accustomed to perch, and climbing np it fasten 

 the stick to a branch and ari-jinge the cord in a noose so 

 ingeiiionsily, that when the bird comes to eat the fruit its 

 legs are cauglit, ami by pulling the end of the cord, which 

 hauirs down to the "rouud, it comes free from the branch 

 and brings down the bird. Sometimes, when food is 

 abundant elsewhere, the hunter sits trom morning till 

 night under his tree with the cord in his hand, and even 

 for two or three whole days in succession, without even 

 getting a bite ; while, on the other hand, if very lucky, he 

 may get two or three birds in a day. Thei'e are only eight 

 or ten men at Bessir who practise this art, which is un- 

 known anywhere else in tlie island- I detenuined, there- 

 fore, to stay as long as possible, as my only chance of 

 getting a good series of specimens ; and although I was 

 nearly stai-ved, everything eatable by civilised man being 

 (scarce or altogt tiier absent, I titially succeeded. 



The vegetables and fruit in the phiutations around us 

 did not suffice for the wants of the inhabitants, and were 

 almost always dug up orgatheml before they were ripe. It 



