THE BIRDS OF PARADISE. 
187 
being yellow, are rich crimson, and only extend 
about three or four inches beyond the end of the 
tail; they are somewhat rigid, aiul the ends are 
curved downward and inward, and are tipped 
with white. The two middle tail feathers, in¬ 
stead of being simply elongated and deprived 
of their webs, are transformed into stiff black 
ribbons a quarter of an inch wide, but curved 
like a split quill, and resembling thin half cyl¬ 
inders of horn or whalebone. When a dead 
bird is laid on its back it is seen that these 
ribbons take a curve or set, Avhich brings them 
round so as to meet in a double circle on the 
neck of the bird; but when the}f*hang down¬ 
ward, during life, they assume a spiral twist, 
and form an exceedingly graceful double curve. 
They are about twenty-two inches long, and al¬ 
ways attract attention as the most conspicuous 
and extraordinary feature of the species. The 
rich metallic green color of the throat extends 
over the front half of the head to behind the 
eyes, and on the forehead forms a little double 
crest of scaly feathers, which adds much to the 
vivacity of the bird’s aspect. The bill is gam¬ 
boge-yellow, and the iris blackish-olive. 
The female of this species is of a tolerably 
uniform coffee-brown color, but has a blackish 
head, and the nape, neck, and shoulders yel¬ 
low, indicating the position of the brighter col¬ 
ors of the male. The changes of plumage fol¬ 
low the same order of succession as in the other 
species, the bright colors of the head and neck 
being first developed, then the lengthened fila¬ 
ments of the tail, and last of all, the red side 
plumes. I obtained a series of specimens, il¬ 
lustrating the manner in which the extraordi¬ 
nary black tail ribbons are developed, which is 
very remarkable. They first appear as two or¬ 
dinary feathers, rather shorter than the rest of 
the tail; the second stage would no doubt be 
that shown in a specimen of l^arudisea a/>oda, 
in which the feathers are moderately lengthen¬ 
ed, and with the web narrowed in the middle; 
the third stage is shown by a specimen which 
has part of the midrib bare, and terminated by 
a spatulate web ; in another the bare midrib is 
a little dilated and semi-cylindrical, and the 
terminal web very small; in a fifth the perfect 
black horny ribbon is formed, but it bears at 
its extremity a brown spatulate web; while in 
another a portion of the black ribbon itself 
bears, for a portion of its length, a narrow 
brown web. It is only after these changes 
are fully completed that the red side plumes 
begin to appear. 
The Red Birds of Paradise are not shot with 
blunt arrows, as in the Am Islands and some 
parts of New Guinea, but are snared in a very 
ingenious manner. A large climbing Arum 
bears a red retietdated fruit, of which the birds 
are A'ery 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 jjerch, and climbing up it fas¬ 
ten 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 pidling the end of the cord, which hangs 
down to the ground, it conics free from the 
branch and lirings 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. There 
are only eight or ten men who jiractice this art. 
Some few were brought me the same day 
they were caught, and I had an oiiportunity of 
examining them in all their beauty and vivac¬ 
ity. As soon as I 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 keeji some of them. 
I got the natives to bring me branches of a 
fruit they were very fond of, and I was jileased 
to find they ate it greedily, and would also take 
any number of live grasshoppers I gave them, 
strijiping off the legs and wings, and then swal¬ 
lowing them. They drank plenty of water, and 
Avere in constant motion, jumping about the 
cage from perch to, perch, clinging on the toj) 
and sides, and rarely resting a moment the 
first day till nightfall. 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, Avithout any 
apparent cause. Some of them ate boiled rice 
as Avell as fruit and insects; but after trying 
many in succession, not one out of ten lived 
more than three days. The second or third 
day they Avould be dull, and in several cases 
they Avere seized Avith convulsions, and fell off 
the perch, dying a fcAv hours afterAvard. I 
tried immature as Avell as full-plumaged birds, 
but Avith no better success, and at length gave 
it up as a hopeless task, and confined my at¬ 
tention to preserving specimens in as good a 
condition as possil)le. 
The Red Bird of Paradise offers a remarkable 
case of restricted range, being entirely confined 
to the small island of Waigiou, off the nortliAA'est 
extremity of Noav Guinea, Avhere it replaces the 
allied species found in the other islands. 
The three birds just described form a Avell- 
marked group, agreeing in every ]»oint of gen¬ 
eral structure, in their comparatively large size, 
the broAvn color of their bodies, Avings, and tail, 
and in the peculiar character of the ornamental 
])lumage Avhich distinguishes the male bird. The 
group ranges nearly over the Avhole area inhab¬ 
ited by the family of the Paradisekhc; but each 
of the species has its oaa'u limited region, and is 
never found in the same district Avith cither of 
its close allies. To these three birds properly 
belongs the generic title i^umJtsetqXAr true Par¬ 
adise Bird. 
The next species is the J^aradisea rcq'ia of 
Linnams, or King Biud or Pakadisk, Avhich 
differs so much from the three preceding spe- 
