280 Birds. 
our arrival on this land of promise (New Guinea) for 
the naturalist, I was on a shooting excursion. Scarcely 
had I walked some hundred paces in those ancient 
forests, the daughters of time, whose sombre depth was, 
perhaps, the most magnificent and stately sight that I 
had ever seen, when a Bird of Paradise struck my view : 
it flew gracefully and in undulations ; the feathers of 
its sides formed an elegant and aerial plume, which, 
without exaggeration, bore no remote resemblance to 
a brilliant meteor. Surprised, astounded, enjoying an 
inexpressible gratification, I devoured this splendid bird 
with my eyes ; but my emotion was so great that I 
forgot to shoot at it, and did not recollect that I had a 
gun in my hand till it was far away." 
The head is small, but adorned with colours which vie 
with the brightest hues of the feathered tribe ; the neck 
is a beautiful fawn, and the body very small, but covered 
with long feathers of a browner hue, tinged with gold : the 
two middle feathers of the tail are little more than fila- 
ments, except at the point and near the base. Although 
the body is no larger than that of a thrush, the total 
length is two feet. This bird has long been esteemed 
by ladies as a head-dress ; and as those sent to Europe 
for this purpose always had the legs cut off for the con- 
venience of packing, it was reported, and at one time 
believed, that the Bird of Paradise had no legs, but that 
it lived always on the wing. Indeed, a very fierce 
controversy arose on this subject among the earlier 
naturalists. 
The native place of these birds is New Guinea and 
the neighbouring islands, where they are generally found 
in flocks of thirty and forty, roosting on fig or teak trees. 
They always fly against the wind, that it ma} not ruffle 
their light and spreading plumage, as, if the wind came 
from behind, it would blow their long tails over their 
back. They take shelter from storms in the most dense 
thickets, and feed principally on figs, the berries of the 
teak, and insects. The note of the Bird of Paradise is 
very unpleasant, and resembles the cawing of a raven ; it 
is chiefly heard in windy weather, when they dread being 
thrown on the ground. 
