178 
BIRD OF PARADISE 
ment for ladies’ head-dresses. It was in the possession of a 
gentleman who had a valuable aviary of the rarest foreign 
birds, at Macao, in China. He kept it in a large cage, 
where it had abundance of room for the display of its gaudy 
dress, of which it seemed very proud ; dancing about when 
visitors approached, as if delighted at being made an object 
of admiration. It washed itself twice every day, and then 
threw up its delicate feathers nearly over its head. Nothing 
appeared to disturb it so much as any sort of dust attaching 
itself to its plumage. For at its toilet it pecked and cleaned 
all within reach, and throwing out the elegant and delicate 
tuft of feathers underneath the wings, cleaned each in succes- 
sion, by passing it through its hill. Having completed its 
toilet, it would utter its usual cawing notes, and then look 
archly at the spectators, as if ready to receive their admira- 
tion.^ 
* See Bennett’s Wanderings in New South Wales, vol. ii. 
Young Cuckoo fed "by a Small Bird 
