MAGNIFICENT PARADISE-BIRD. 493 



springs a kind of double ruff, spreading over the 

 back to a considerable distancse, and composed 

 of very numerous setaceous plumes, of different 

 lengths, v^^ith slightly dilated extremities: the 

 shortest of these plumes, or those composing the 

 first series, are orange-coloured, v^ith a black spot 

 at the tip of each : those of the second series far 

 exceed the former in length, and are of a very pale 

 yellow or straw-colour throughout: the feathers 

 on the shoulders, or the smaller wing-coverts, are 

 orange-coloured with blackish tips, forming so 

 many transverse blackish crescents on those parts : 

 from the rump spring two very long and extremely 

 narrow gold-green sharp-pointed shafts, which ap- 

 pear, when narrowly inspected, to be minutely 

 barbed on each side throughout their whole length, 

 by a narrow web : these shafts diverge from each 

 other at a small distance from their origin, and 

 turn upwards in a circular direction on each side 

 the tail: the bill and legs are yellowish-brown: 

 the general shape or habit of the bird considerably 

 resembles that of the Paradisea apoda, to which it 

 is somewhat inferior in size, which is nearly that 

 of a Blackbird. 



This elegant species seems to have been first 

 distinctly described and figured by Monsr. Sonne- 

 xat. It has been sometimes imagined that the im- 

 mediately preceding species, or Cirrhated Para- 

 dise-Bird of Aldrovandus, may have been intended 

 for the same species; but there are several par- 

 ticulars in his description of that bird which absq- 

 lutely contradict such a supposition. 



