SEMIOPTERA WALLACII {Gray). 
Wall ace’s Standard- wing*. 
Paradisea wallacei, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1859, p. 130. — Schlegel, J. f. O. 1861, p. 385. — Id. Mus. Pays-Bas, 
Coraces, p. 91 (1867). 
Paradisea ( Semioptera ) wallacii, Sclater, Ibis, 1859, p. 210. 
Semioptera wallacii, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1859, p. 351. — Sclater, Ibis, 1859, p. 322.— Gould, B. Austr. Suppl. 
pi. 3 (1859). — Sclater, Ibis, 1860, p. 26, pi. 2. —Wallace, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1860, p. 61. — Gray, Proc. Zool. 
Soc. 1860, p. 355. — Wallace, Ibis, 1861, p. 212. — Rosenb. J. f. O. 1864, p. 125. — Finsch, Neu-Guinea, 
p. 105 (1865).— Gould, Handb. B. Austr. ii. p. 532 (1865).— Finsch, J. f. O. 1866, p. 135— Wallace, 
Malay Archip. ii. pp. 41, 409, 419, cum tab. (1869). — Elliot, Monogr. Parad. pi. 18 (1873).— Salvad. 
Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov, vii. p. 785 (1875), ix. p. 190 (1876). — Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. iii. 
p. 178 (1877). — Eudes-Deslongch. Ann. Mus. Caen, i. p. 38 (1880).— Salvad. Orn. Papuasia, etc. ii. 
p. 572 (1881). — Guillem. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1885, p. 574. — D’Hamonv. Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 1886, 
p. 5io. — Salvad. Agg. Orn. Papuasia, ii. p. 157 (1890). — Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, iv. p. xiii (1894). 
Semioptera wallacii, var. hahnaherce, Salvad. Orn. Papuasia, etc. ii. p. 573 (1881). — Id. Agg. Orn. Papuasia, ii. 
p. 157 (1890). 
Epimachus wallacii, Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 105, no. 1276 (1869). — Musschenbr. Dagboek, pp. 203, 235 (1883). — 
Rosenb. Mitth. orn. Ver. Wien, 1885, p. 53. 
Epimachus wallacei, var. hahnaherce, Musschenbr. Dagboek, pp. 204, 235 (1883). 
Semioptera gouldi, Boucard, Humming-Bird, i. p. 43. 
Semioptera halmaherce, Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, iv. p. xiii (1894). 
This wonderful Bird of Paradise was discovered in the island of Batchian in the Moluccas, and was 
considered by Dr. Wallace to be one of the most important of the discoveries made by him during his celebrated 
expedition to the Malay Archipelago, as was undoubtedly the case. He likewise met with a Standard-wing 
in Halmahera, or Gilolo, as it was then called, and he noted certain differences, which have since been 
considered sufficient by Count Salvadori to separate the Halmahera bird as a variety, under the name 
Semioptera wallacii, var. halmaherce. On looking over the series in the British Museum, where we have 
specimens from both islands, I am inclined to disregard the greater amount of violet on the crown as only 
of slight importance, neither can I see much in the less plentiful amount of the feathering of the frontal 
plumes, which does not show forth very strongly; but the longer shield-plumes are an evident if a slight 
character, and may he sufficient for those who wish to separate S. halmaherce as a race of S. wallacii. 
Very little has been recorded of the habits of this extraordinary bird, and the following is Dr. Wallace’s 
account of it in his well-known work on the Malay Archipelago. 
He thus relates his first discovery of this wonderful Bird of Paradise in the island of Batchian : — “ Just 
as I got home, I overtook Ali returning from shooting, with some birds hanging from his belt. He seemed 
much pleased, and said, ‘ Look here, Sir, what a curious bird,’ holding out what at first completely puzzled 
me. I saw a bird with a mass of splendid green feathers on its breast, elongated into two glittering tufts ; 
but what I could not understand was a pair of long white feathers, which stuck straight out from each 
shoulder. Ali assured me that the bird stuck them out this way itself, when fluttering its wings, and that 
they had remained so without his touching them.” Again he writes : — “ On lifting the wing-coverts these 
feathers are seen to arise from two tubular horny sheaths, which diverge from near the point of junction of 
the carpal bones.” 
The following note was given by Dr. Wallace to the late Mr. John Gould : — 
“The Semioptera frequents the lower trees of the virgin forests, and is almost constantly in motion. It 
flies from branch to branch, and clings to the twigs and even to the vertical smooth trunks almost as easily 
as a Woodpecker. It continually utters a harsh croaking cry, something between that of Paradisea apocla 
and the more musical cry of Cicinnurus regius. The males, at short intervals, open and flutter their 
wings, erect the long shoulder-feathers, and expand the elegant shields on each side of the breast. Like 
the Birds of Paradise, the females and young birds far outnumber the fully plumaged birds, which renders 
it probable that the extraordinary accessory plumes are not fully developed until the third or fourth year. 
The bird seems to feed principally upon fruit, hut it probably takes insects occasionally. I have obtained 
