KING BIRD OF PARADISE. 
FEWb irds, it has been remarked, have more 
puzzled the learned, than those which are 
denominated Birds of Paradise. Some have 
descrihed them as inhabitants of the air, living 
only on the dew of heaven, and never resting 
on the earth; others, though they have ac- 
<|uiesced in the latter part of their history, 
admit that they subsist on flying inse6ls : and, 
while some have insisted, that they have no 
legs i others contend, that tlieir legs are not 
only very iarge and strong, but tliat they are 
absolutely birds of prey. 
Tlie fa6t is, that the inhabitants of the Mo- 
lucca Isles, of wliich tiie Bird of Paradise is 
a native, perceiving tr<e strong inclination of 
Europeans for these beautiful birds, originally 
pradtised jnany dcceltv<^, with a vievv' of en- 
hancing their value. In particular, they con- 
stantly exposed them for sale without legs, and 
protested that they never had any. "^rhe cre- 
dulous Europeans, finding such singularly 
beautiful 
