183 
THE BIRDS OF PARADISE. 
THE BIRDS OF PARADISE * 
NATIVES OF ARU SHOOTING TUB GREAT BIRD OF PARADISE. 
A S many of my journeys were made with the 
express object of obtaining specimens of 
the Birds of Paradise, and learning something 
of tlieir habits and distribution ; and being (as 
far as I am aware) the only Englishman who 
has seen these wonderful birds in their native 
forests, and obtained specimens of many of 
them, I propose to give here, in a connected 
* A chapter from The Malay Arr.hipclago: the Ixind 
of the Orang-Utan, and the Bird of Paradise. By Al¬ 
fred Russei. Wai.i.aok. With Maps and numerous 
Illustrations. Published by Harper and Brothers. 
form, the result of my observations and inqui¬ 
ries. 
When the earliest European voyagers reach¬ 
ed the Moluccas in search of cloves and nut¬ 
megs, which were then rare and jnecious spices, 
they were presented with the dried skins of 
birds so strange and beautiful as to excite the 
admiration even of those wealth-seeking rov¬ 
ers. The Malay traders gave them the name 
of “Manuk dewata,” or God’s Birds; and the 
Portuguese, finding that the skins had no feet 
or wings, and not being able to learn any thing 
