hardens gradually, and the black shaft is sometimes found with a feathery spatule at the end. It appears to 
me to be improbable that each succeeding moult of the black whalebone-like plumes should be 
accompanied by a feathery tip to the latter. 
Dr. Wallace’s account of the habits of this species is still the only full one that has been published, and I 
give some extracts below. Since he travelled in the Malay Archipelago, a specimen has been successfully 
kept in confinement, and one lived for some time in the Zoological Gardens, having been brought home by 
Mr. Kettlewell during the cruise of the ' Marchesa.’ 
The following are Dr. Wallace’s notes: — - 
“ When I first arrived I was surprised at being told that there were no Paradise-birds at Muka, although 
there were plenty at Bessir, a place where the natives caught them and prepared the skins. I assured the 
people I had heard the cry of these birds close to the village ; but they would not believe that I could know 
their cry. However, the very first time I went into the forest I not only heard but saw them, and was 
convinced there were plenty about ; but they were very shy, and it was some time before we got any. My 
hunter first shot a female ; and I one day got very close to a fine male. He was, as I expected, the rare 
red species, Paradisea rubra , which alone inhabits this island and is found nowhere else. He was quite low 
down, running along a bough searching for insects, almost like a Woodpecker; and the long black riband- 
like filaments in his tail hung down in the most graceful double curve imaginable. I covered him with my 
gun, and was going to use the barrel, which had a very small charge of powder and No. 8 shot, so as not 
to injure his plumage; but the gun missed fire, and he was off in an instant among the thickest jungle. 
Another day we saw no less than eight fine males at different times, and fired four times at them ; but 
though other birds at the same distance almost always dropped, these all got away, and I began to think 
we were never to get this magnificent species. At length the fruit ripened on the fig-tree close to my 
house, and many birds came to feed on it ; and one morning, as I was taking my coffee, a male Paradise- 
bird was seen to settle on its top. I seized my gun, ran under the tree, and, gazing up, could see it flying 
across from branch to branch, seizing a fruit here and another there ; and then, before I could get a 
sufficient aim to shoot at such a height (for it was one of the loftiest trees of the tropics), it was away 
into the forest. They now visited the tree every morning ; but they stayed so short a time, their motions 
were so rapid, and it was so difficult to see them, owing to the lower trees which impeded the view, that it 
was only after several days’ watching, and one or two misses, that I brought down my bird — a male in the 
most magnificent plumage I had only shot two Paradiseas on my tree when they ceased visiting 
it, either owing to the fruit becoming scarce, or that they were wise enough to know there was danger. 
We continued to hear and see them in the forest, but after a month had not succeeded in shooting any 
more; and as my chief object in visiting Waigiou was to get these birds, I determined to go to Bessir, 
where there are a number of Papuans who catch and preserve them. I hired a small outrigger boat for 
this journey, and left one of my men to guard my house and goods My first business was to 
send for the men who were accustomed to catch the Birds of Paradise. Several came; and I showed them 
my hatchets, beads, knives, and handkerchiefs, and explained to them as well as I could by signs the price I 
would give for fresh-killed specimens. It is the universal custom to pay for everything in advance; but only 
one man ventured to take goods to the value of two birds. The rest were suspicious, and wanted to see the 
result of the first bargain with the strange white man, the only one who had ever come to their island. 
After three days my man brought me the first bird — a very fine specimen, and alive, but tied up in a small 
bag, and consequently its tail- and wing-feathers were very much crushed and injured. I tried to explain 
to him, and to others that came with him, that I wanted them as perfect as possible, and that they should 
either kill them or keep them on a perch with a string to their leg. As they were now apparently satisfied 
that all was fair, and that I had no ulterior designs upon them, six others took away goods, some for one 
bird, some for more, and one for as many as six. They said they had to go a long way for them, and that 
they would come back as soon as they caught any. At intervals of a few days or a week some of them 
would return, bringing me one or more birds ; but though they did not bring any more in bags, there was 
not much improvement in their condition. As they caught them a long way off in the forest, they would 
scarcely ever come with one, but wotdd tie it by the legs to a stick, and put it in their house till they 
caught another.” 
The figures in the Plate represent an adult male in two positions, and are drawn from specimens formerly 
in the Gould collection. 
