cn. xxxviii,] 



THE BIX-SnAFTED. 



addition to these ornaments, there is also an immense ttil't 

 of soft feathers on each side of the breast, which wlien 

 elevated must entirely liide the wings, and give the hird 

 an appearance of being double its real bulk. The bill is 

 black, aliort, and rather compressed, with the feathers 

 advancing over the nostrils, as in Cicinnimis regius. This 

 singtdar and brQliant bird inhabits the same region as the 

 Superb Bird of Paradise, and nothing whatever is known 

 about it bnt what we can derive from an examination of 

 the skins preserved by the natives of New Guinea, 



THE Rix-«nAnTD bird or vikKJiSPii. (/'ofoltaHKjKnKtuJ 



The Standard Wing, named Semioptera wallacei by Mr, 

 G, R Gray, is an entirely new form of Bird of Paradise, dis- 

 covered by myself in the island of Batch ian, and especially 

 distingnished by a pair of long narrow feathers of a white 

 colour, which sprinj^ from among the short plumes which 

 clothe the bend of the wing, and are capable of being 

 erected at pleasure. The general colour of this bird is a 

 delicate olive-brown, deepening to a kind of bronzy oHvo 

 in the mitldle of the back, and changing to a delicate ashy 

 violet with a metallic glosa, oa the crown of the head. 

 Tlie feathers, which cover the nostrils and extend half-way 



0 o 2 



