"UU Hunfslcms Magnificent Bird of Paradise. 
iiie, sketching with that inimitable skill of his, various speci* 
mens of mine wliich were then about to be transferred to Mr. 
Pauvvels, amongst which, and the most important, was the 
liunstein's; — our frontispiece being yet another exanijile of 
his faithful work. Personally I shall never forget the swift- 
ness and accuracy of his pencil, as he sketched the bird as it 
lied from perch to perch in its large aviary-cage. 
I have before mentioned its unsteadiness: it is not so 
with all the species of this richly endowed group. A\'e have 
here, Ivings and Apodas, quite steady and tame, in Fact, one 
would think they had never been free, so kindly do they take 
to cage life. I have always found that in all varieties of 
birds, one comes across individual specimens that never be 
come tame, and yet thrive wonderfully in captivity; the reason 
is obvious — nervousness. It is the same with genus Hoiho 
dispositions and nervous temperament vary considerably. 
Om- esteemed membei-, Mr. H. D. Astley, wiitiiiLc in the 
" Avicuitural Magazine " concerning' tlii.s genus, (|U(Miiig the expeci- 
lence of our esteemed member Mr. W. Goudtello-w, who has !)eeii 
responsible for the collection and importation of so many rare species 
of Birds of Paradise; states: 
" A very interesting fact with regard to the liahits of 
" these birds is that the males select some small tree, from wiiich 
"they strip all the leaves, carrying them away, and permit - 
" ting no refuse around their playground. On the barri! in'anches 
" the males display and dance, so that all their beauty can he seen. 
" Ml-. Goodfellow threw some leaves down upon the sjiace that 
" they had cleared beneath the sapling, and the birds with ci'ies of 
" indignation removed the offending obstacles." - Ed. 
By E. J. Brook. 
[Our esteemed merabei- has kindly sent nie at vei'y .slioji 
notice, the following interesting notes as to the demeanour of this 
grand ,species in his aviary. — Ed.] 
In the aviary I find the Hunstein's l^ii'd of Paradise 
to be rather uninteresting, any way the mature males are. 
They sit almost without movement, the bill pointing upwards, 
far long periods. They rarely show themselves in the open 
but remain in the inner part of the aviary or hidden in a 
bush. The females and young males are lively enough and 
do jiot seem to mind showing themselves. This is rather 
curious but, is I think a provision of nature. May it not be 
