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HARPER’S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
note, somewhat intermediate between that of 
Paradisea apoda and tlie more musical cry of 
Cicinnuriis regins. The males at short intervals 
open and flutter their wings, erect the long 
shoulder feathers, and spread out the elegant 
green breast shields. 
The “ Standard Wing” is found in Gilolo as 
well as in Batchian, and all the specimens from 
the former island have the green breast shield 
rather longer, the crown of the head darker 
violet, and the low^er parts of the body rather 
more strongly scaled with green. This is the 
only Paradise Bird yet found in the Moluccan 
district, all the others being confined to the 
Papuan Islands and North Australia. 
We now come to the Epimackidce, or “ Long¬ 
billed Birds of Paradise,” which, as before 
stated, ought not to be separated from the 
Parudiseidce by the intervention of any other 
birds. One of the most remarkable of these is 
the “Twelve-wired Paradise Bird,” Poraf&ea 
alba of Blumenbach, but now placed in the 
genus Seleiicides of Lesson. 
This bird is about twelve inches long, of 
which the compressed and curved beak occupies 
two inches. The color of the breast and upper 
surface appears at first sight nearly black, but 
a close examination shows that no part of it is 
devoid of color, and by bolding it in various 
lights the most rich and glowing tints become 
visible. The head, covered with short velvety 
feathers, which advance on the chin much fur¬ 
ther than on the upper part of the beak, is of a 
purplish-bronze color; tbe whole of the back 
and shoulders is rich bronzy-green, while the 
closed wings and tail are of the most brilliant 
violet-purjfle, all the plumage having a delicate 
silky gloss. The mass of feathers which cover 
the breast is really almost black, with faint 
glosses of green and purple, but tbeir outer 
edges are margined with glittering bands' of 
emerald-green. The whole lower part of the 
body is rich buffy-yellow, including the tuft of 
plumes which spring from the sides, and extend 
an inch and a half beyond the tail. When 
skins are exposed to the light the yellow fades 
into dull white, from which circumstance it de¬ 
rived its specific name. About six of tbe inner¬ 
most of these plumes on each side have the 
midrib elongated into slender black wires, which 
bend at right angles, and cnrve somewhat back¬ 
ward to a length of about ten inches, forming 
one of those extraordinary and fantastic orna¬ 
ments with which this group of birds abounds. 
The bill is jet black, and the feet bright yellow. 
The female, although not quite so plain a 
bird as in some other species, presents none of 
the gay colors or ornamental plumage of the 
male. The top of the head and back of the 
neck are black, the rest of the upper parts rich 
reddish-brown; while the under surfixce is en¬ 
tirely yellowish-ashy, somewhat blackish on the 
breast, and crossed throughout with narrow 
blackish wavy bands. 
Tlie Seleucides alba is found in the island of 
Salwatty, and in the northxvestern parts of New 
Guinea, where it frequents flowering trees, es¬ 
pecially sago-palms and pandani, sucking the 
flowers, round and beneath which its unusually 
large and powerful feet enable it to cling. Its 
motions are very rapid. It seldom rests more 
than a few moments on one tree, after which it 
flies straight off, and with great sw'iftness, to 
another. It has a loud shrill cry, to be heard 
a long way, consisting of “Cah, cah,” repeated 
five or six times in a descending scale, and at 
the last note it generally flies away. The males 
are quite solitary in their habits, although, per¬ 
haps, they assemble at certain times like the 
true Paradise Birds. All the specimens shot 
and opened by my assistant Mr. Allen, who ob¬ 
tained this fine bird during his last voyage to 
New Guinea, had nothing in their stomachs but 
a brown sw'eet liquid, probably the nectar of 
the flowers on which they had been feeding. 
They certainly, however, eat both fruit and in¬ 
sects, for a specimen which I saw' alive on board 
a Dutch steamer ate cockroaches and papaya 
fruit voraciously. This bird had the curious 
habit of resting at noon wdth the bill pointing 
v'ertically upward. It died on the passage to 
Batavia, and I secured the body and formed a 
skeleton, wdiich shows indisputably that it is 
really a Bird of Paradise. The tongue is very 
long and extensible, but flat and a little fibrous 
at the end, exactly like the true Paradiseas. 
In the island of Salwatty the natives search 
in the forests till they find the sleeping place of 
this bird, which they know' by seeing its dung 
upon the ground. It is generally in a low 
bushy tree. At night they climb up the tree, 
and either shoot the birds Avith blunt arroAA's, or 
even catch them alive Avith a cloth. In Ncav 
Guinea they are caught by placing snares on 
tbe trees frequented by them, in the same Avay 
as the Red Paradise Birds are caught in Wai- 
giou, and Avhich has already been described. 
The great “Epimaque,” or Long-tailed 
Paradise Bird (Ppimachus magnus'), is 
another of these Avonderful creatures, 
only knoAvn by the imperfect skins pre- 
TUE LONO-TAILET) ETEn OF FAKAniSE. 
