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 would tie 
it by the legs to a stick, and put it in their house till they caught another. The poor creature would make violent efforts to 
escape, would get among the ashes, or hang suspended by the leg till the limb was swollen or half putrefied, and some- 
times died of starvation and worry. One had its beautiful head all defiled by pitch from a dammar torch ; another had 
been so long dead that its stomach was turning green. Luckily, however, the skin and plumage of these birds are so firm 
and strong that they bear washing and cleaning better than almost any other sort; and I was generally able to 
clean them so well that they did not perceptibly differ from those 1 had shot myself. Some few were brought me the 
same day they were caught, and I had an opportunity of examining them in all their beauty and vivacity. As soon as 1 
found they were generally brought alive, I set one of my men to make a large bamboo cage, with troughs for food and 
water, hoping to be able to keep some of them. I got the natives to bring me branches of a fruit they were very fond of ; 
and I was pleased to find they ate it greedily and would also take any number of live grasshoppers I gave them, stripping 
off the legs and wings, and then swallowing them. They drank plenty of water, and were in constant motion, jumping 
about the cage from perch to perch, clinging to the top and sides, and rarely resting a moment the first day till nightfall. 
4 
The second day they were always less active, although they would eat as freely as before; and on the morning of the third 
day they were almost always found dead at the bottom of the cage, without any apparent cause. Some of them ate boiled 
rice, as well as fruits and insects ; but, after trying many in succession, not one out of ten lived more than three days. The 
second or third day they would be dull, and in several cases they were seized with convulsions and fell off the perch, dying 
a few hours afterwards. I tried immature as well as full-plumaged birds, but with no better success, and at length gave it 
up as a hopeless task, and confined my attention to preserving specimens in as good a condition as possible. The Red 
Birds of Paradise are not shot with blunt arrows, as in the Aru Islands and some parts of New Guinea, but are snared in 
a very ingenious manner. A large climbing Arum bears a red reticulated fruit, of which the birds are very fond. The 
hunters fasten this fruit on a stout forked stick, and provide themselves with a fine but strong cord. They then seek out 
some tree in the forest on which these birds are accustomed to perch, and, climbing up it, fasten the stick to a branch, and 
arrange the cord in a noose so ingeniously that, when the bird comes to eat the fruit, its legs are caught ; and by pulling 
the end of the cord which hangs down to the ground, it comes tree from the branch and brings down the bird. Sometimes, 
when food is abundant elsewhere, the hunter sits from morning till night under his tree, with the cord in his hand, and 
even for two or three whole days in succession, without even getting a bite; while, on the other hand, if very lucky, he may 
get two or three birds in a day.” 
Adult Male. — Front of head, cheeks, and throat rich metallic green ; feathers elevated over the eyes. Base of head 
upper part of back, breast, and rump orange-yellow. Wings, back, underparts, and tail dark chestnut-brown. Long- 
flowing plumes spring from under the wings, deep red at the base, but gradually whitening to the tips. Two long black 
shafts extend from the lower part of the back and fall in long graceful curves. These are entirely webless in adult, but 
are webbed at the tips in the young bird, in which state the shafts are brownish and the webs pale brown. 
Length, 13.50; wing, 7; tail, 5.50; bill, 1; tarsus, 1.80; long shafts in adult specimen above described, 22 inches. 
Adult F 'emale. — Front of head, cheeks, and throat chestnut-brown ; upper breast and base of head yellowish, shading 
into brownish-yellow on back. Rest of plumage chestnut-brown. Feet and tarsus black ; bill brown color. 
The specimens above described are in my collection. 
