GREAT PARADISE-BIRD. AS5 



thus taken alive, they are immediately killed, em- 

 bo welled, the feet are cut off, they are fumigated 

 with sulphur, and dried for sale. The Dutch ships 

 frequenting the sea between New Guinea and 

 Aru, a distance of about eighteen or twenty miles, 

 not unfrequently observe flocks of Paradise- Birds 

 crossing the sea from one to the other of these 

 places, but constantly against the wind. If a 

 tempestuous gale arises, they seek the upper and 

 calmer regions of the air, and thus continue their 

 course. With respect to the food of these birds, 

 there does not appear any very certain informa- 

 tion: it has been said that they often prey on the 

 smaller birds; and indeed the strength of their bill 

 and legs, and the vigour with which they are ob- 

 served to defend themselves when taken, seem to 

 favour this supposition: they are also said to feed 

 on fruits and berries of various kinds, and, accord- 

 ing to Linnaeus, on the larger kind of butterflies. 

 It is indeed probable that their general mode of 

 living may resemble that of many of the Crow 

 tribe, feeding both on animal and vegetable sub- 

 stances. 



I must not dismiss the history of this elegant 

 bird without observing: that an instance has oc- 

 curred of its having been brought, in a living 

 state, into England: it had however entirely lost 

 the beautiful floating side-feathers, and did not 

 long survive its arrival in this country. 



