566 THE Binm OF PARADISE. [ca. xxxvni. 



The Seleucides alba is found in the island of SalM'atty, 

 and in the north-western parts of New Guiin-a, wljere 

 it frequents flovveriufr trees, especially sago-pidnis and 

 pandaui, sucking the flowers, romid and txineath which its 

 nnusmilly large and powerfid feet enable it to cling. Its 

 niolious are veiy rapid. It seklora rests more than a few 

 inoraenta on one tree, after wiiidi it flies stmight ott", and 

 with great swiftness, to another. It has a loud shrill cry, 

 to he heard a long way, consisting of " Cah, cdh/' repeated 

 five or six times in a descending scale, and at the last not© 

 it generally Ihes away. The males are quite sohtaiy in their 

 habits, although, perhaps, they assemble at certain times 

 like the true Pai'adise Birds. All the specimens shot and 

 opened by my assistant Mr. Allen, wfio obtained this fine 

 bird during his last voyage to New Guinea, had nothing in 

 their stomachs hut a brown sweet liquid, probably the 

 nectar of the Bowers on w4iieh tliey had been feeding. 

 They certainly, however, eat hoth fi-uit and insects, for a 

 specimen which I saw alive on board a Dutch steamer ate 

 cockroaches and papaya fruit voraciously. This bird had 

 the curious hahit of resting at noon with the bill pointing 

 vertically upwards. It died on the passage to Eatavia, 

 and I secured the body and formed a skeleton, which 

 shows indisputably that it is really a Bird of Paradise- 

 The tongue is very long and extensible, but tiat and a 

 little fibrous at the end, exactly like the true Paradistias. 



In the island of Salwatty, the natives search in the 

 forests till they find the sleeping place of this bird, -which 

 they know by seeing its dung upon tlie ground. It is 

 genemlly in a low bushy tree. At night they climb up 

 the tree, and either shoot the birds with blunt aiTows, or 

 even catch them alive with a clotli In New Guinea they 

 are caught by placing snares on the trees frequented by 

 them, in the same way as the Red Paradise Birds are 

 caught in Waigiou, and which has already been described 

 at page 534. 



The great Epimaque, or Ijong-tailed Paradise Bird (Epi- 

 inachus meignus), is another of these wonderful creatures, 

 only known by the imperfect skins prepared by the 

 natives. In its dark velvety plumage, glossed with bronzt 



