BIRDS OF PARADISE. 
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and tlieir peculiar characters, save with regard to their 
plumage, are totally unknown. They have all pro- 
duced feathers, with flocculent webs on the hanks, the 
scapulars, or both ; they have, in general, long 
thread-like feathers in the tail, which are sometimes 
terminated by little discs or palettes, and the plumage 
of the rest of their bodies is in a great measure 
peculiar. All their feathers are better formed for 
taking hold on the wind than for making way against 
it, for they are all remarkable for their loose and velvet- 
like texture. This is remarkable in the feathers of 
the head, and in those of the neck, more especially in 
the species which have a ruff of produced feathers 
upon that part ; but it is not confined to these, for the 
whole plumage of the body, and even the flying 
feathers of the wings, have a more loose and velvety 
texture than those of most other birds. 
The species which is most known in this country is 
likewise the most elegant bird of the family. It is 
the Paradisea apoda of Linnmus, or the great Emerald 
Bird of Paradise. From the point of the bill to the 
extremity of the tail the length is about a foot ; but 
the produced feathers of the flanks, which are exceed- 
ingly light and beautiful in their form, extend about a 
foot more. The general colour is a rich cinnamon- 
brown, but it varies considerably on the different parts. 
Over the nostrils and on the forehead there are very 
thick, soft and velvety, black feathers, with green re- 
flections. The crown and nape are pale yellow, the 
throat golden greeif, the hind part of the neck purple- 
brown, the rest of the upper part, and also the breast 
and belly, maroon-brown; the bill yellowish-black. The 
