554 



THE BIRDS OF PARADISE. 



[Cll, XXXVI IT, 



the same sex in Paradisea apoda, by lieiug entirely wliite on 

 the under surface of tlie body, and is thus a much haud- 

 somer bird. Tlie yoiin«T males are similarly colouix^d, and 

 fw they gi-ow older they change to bruwn, and go through 

 the sarac stages in acquiriug the perfect plumage as has 

 already been described iii the allied species. It is thb 

 bird which is most commonly used in ladies' head-dresses 

 ill this country, and also forms an important aHicle of 

 commerce in the Jiast. 



The Paradises papuana has a comparatively wide range, 

 being the common species on the njainland ot" New Guinea, 

 aa well as on the islands of Slysol, Salwatty, Jobie, Biak 

 and So ok. On the south coast of New Guinea, the Dntch 

 naturalist, Muller, found it at the Oetanata river in longi- 

 tude 136° I obtained it myself at iJorey; and the 

 captain of the Dutch steamer Etna infoi-med nie that he 

 had seen the feathers among the natives of Humboldt 

 Bay, in 141* E. longituda It is very probable, therefore, 

 that it ranges over the whole of the maiidand of New 

 Guinea, 



The tme Paradise Birds are omnivorous, feeding on 

 fmits and insects — of the former preferring the small figs ; 

 of the latter, gnisshoppei-s, loeusls., and phasnias, as well aa 

 coclcroaches and caterpillars. When 1 returned home, in 

 1 862, 1 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 Englund by the overland route under my 

 own care. On my way home 1 stayed a week at r>omliay, 

 to break the jouiiiey, and to lay in a fresh stock of 

 bananas for my birds. I had great difUciilty, however, 

 in supplying tiiera with insect food, for in the Penin- 

 sular and Oriental steamei-s cockroaclies were scarce, and 

 it was only by setting traps in the store-rooms, and by 

 hunting an hour every night in the forecastle, tliat 1 could 

 aeeure a few dozen of these creatures, — scarcely enough 

 for a single meal At Malta, where I stayed a fortnight, 1 

 got plenty of cockroaches from a bakehouse, and when 1 

 left, took with me several biscuit-tins' full, as [trovision fot 

 the voyage home. ^We came through the Mediterranean 



