488 BLACK PARADISE-BIRD. 



are slightly elevated in front, in such a manner as 

 to give the appearance of two short horns or tufts. 

 ' It remains to add one very material circum- 

 stance to the description of this bird; viz. that 

 Monsr. Viellot informs us the wings were wanting 

 in the specimen described; but that, as the wings 

 are almost always similar in colour to the tail, he 

 has therefore represented the bird as perfectly 

 complete. The specimen itself, he adds, is in the 

 Paris Museum, 



BLACK PARADISE-BIRD. 



Paradisea nigra. P. nigra aureo-purpureo nitens, pennis later- 

 alibus laxis dilatatis suberectis aureo-viridi nitentibiiSj rectrid- 

 bus subsetaceis. 



Black Paradise-Bird with gold-purple gloss, loose^ dilated, sub- 

 erect side-feathers with gold-green lustre, and subsetaceous 

 tail-feathers. 



Black Paradise-Bird. Penn, Ind. ZooL edit, 2. p. 22. 



As this is a very rare species it appears to be 

 less distinctly known than the rest. It is brought, 

 says Valentyn, without wings or legs, for sale: its 

 figure, when stuffed, is narrow and cylindrical, but 

 stretched in length to the extent of four spans: the 

 plumage on the head, neck, and belly, black and 

 velvet-like, with a hue of purple and gold, which 

 appears very strong: the bill is blackish, and one 

 inch in length: on the sides of the body are two 

 bundles of feathers, which have the appearance of 

 wings, though they be very different^ the real 



