P A R A D I S E A. 409 
total amount exceeds 600, tliongh Buffon mentions only 
40 or jo on each fide. I have had the patience to count 
them in fifty individuals, all very entire; and I have 
reckoned from 260 to 310 on a fide. Their forms, co¬ 
lours, and natures, vary according to their pofitions. 
The largeft meafure from twenty to twenty-two inches 
in length, and have long downy beards, which are fo 
many fin all feathers, tvitli their complete complement of 
beardlets, perfectly vifible. They are of a bright-brown 
colour, and terminate in a long hairy filament. The 
fecondary, which cover the firft, have fmooth and glolTy 
beards, and are of a beautiful jonquil yellow. The third 
fet is compofed of feathers, fimilar to the fecondary, 
which they cover. They are very narrow, prefent the 
fame yellow hue at their bafes, and are tipped with a 
glowing purple, finely contrafting with the yellow ground 
on which they are diftributed by gradations, the final left 
occupying the upper range. The fpace on the fide be¬ 
tween the thighs and bread, which is covered by all thefe 
fubalarian feathers, fcarcely exceeds tw'o fquare inches. 
Thefe gaudy appendages are clofely preffed on one an¬ 
other, and imbedded fo deeply, that their quills are 
vifible through the (kin, which they completely tranf- 
pierce; thus proving'their infertion in an extenfor mufcle, 
which enable's the bird to ereift them at pleafure, like the 
peacock when he difplays the glories of his rump-feathers, 
vulgarly and very improperly called his tail. This latter 
appellation has been alfo frequently bellowed on the 
fubalarian plumage of the bird of paradife, though he has 
a diftimft and very beautiful tail.” 
In fome parts of India, the feathers of this bird bring a 
great price. They are extremely well fuited for the orna¬ 
ments of drefs, both by their lightnefs and their luftre. 
About a century ago, they were employed in Europe for 
the fame purpofes for which thofe Of the oftrich are now 
purchafed. 
What renders this bird ftill more remarkable, is two 
long naked feathers, like threads, that arife in the uropi- 
gium, above the falfe tail already defcribed. Thefe are 
of an enormous length, extending above a foot beyond 
the longeft of that large mafs. The head, back, and 
breaft, of thefe birds, are covered with Ihort ftraight fea¬ 
thers, which, to the touch, are foft like velvet. They are 
of different colours, and fo changeable in their hue, that 
they vary continually, according to the different points 
from which they are viewed. 
Belon pretends that the bird of paradife is the fame 
with the phoenix of the ancients; but the countries 
which they inhabit are too dillant for fuch an hypothecs ; 
Egypt being the habitation of the latter, and the eaftern 
parts of Afia that of the former. Thefe notions, then, fays 
Dr. Forfter, are to be explained by the theology of Egypt. 
Though the birds of paradife were never known to the 
ancients, and though what has been faid by the Egyp¬ 
tian priefts concerning the fabulous phoenix, has but 
little agreement with the bird of paradife, yet it is re¬ 
markable that the names applied both by the Indian 
and European nations to thefe birds, appear to attribute 
fomething of a fuppofed celeftial origin to them. In all 
probability, fays Dr. Shaw, this notion has arifen merely 
from their tranfcendent beauty, and the lingular dif- 
pofition and delicacy of their plumage. 
Marcgrave has inlerted a defcription of this fpecies in 
his Hiftory of the Birds of Brazil ; but it does not appear 
that any of them were ever feen in America, unlefs it 
were thofe which were tranfported thither by the veffels 
that trade between Afia and that continent. It is ex¬ 
tremely improbable that a bird, fo little capable of direct¬ 
ing its flight amidft a gentle breeze, (hould ever have 
attempted fo long a voyage. The bird of paradife is con¬ 
fined within very narrow limits in that continent which 
it inhabits, and never has fhown a difpofition to go be¬ 
yond them : it is not to be fuppofed, therefore, that it 
thould ever have attempted to crofs the Pacific Ocean. 
The Portuguefe firft difcovered thefe birds in the ifland 
Vol. XVIII. No. 1253. 
of Gilolo; and they were known by the name of birds of 
the fun. The inhabitants of Ternate called them manuco 
daivata, “ the bird of God;” whence the name manucodiata, 
ufed by fome naturalifts, is derived. According to them, 
thefe birds have no legs; and the error is fcarcely at this 
moment wholly eradicated, as we find the fpecies ftill 
called apoda. The circumftance which gave rife to it did 
not indeed at firft proceed from an intention to deceive, 
but merely from accident: in the parts of the world 
which produce thefe birds, the natives made ufe of them 
as aigrets and other ornaments of drefs, and in courfe 
threw away the lefs brilliant parts; all the trouble they 
were at on this occafion was merely to lkin the bird, and, 
after cutting off the legs, the coarfer part of the wings. 
See. to tliruft a Hick down the throat into the body, let¬ 
ting an inch or two hangout of the mouth beyond the 
bill : on the bird’s drying, the (kin collapfed about the 
(lick, which became fixed, and fupported the whole. 
They had then no more to do than to put this end of it 
into a gold or (liver focket fitted to receive it, or fallen it 
in fome manner to the turban, &c. By degrees thefe 
were imported into the other ides for the fame ufes, and 
afterwards were coveted by the Japanefe, Chinefe, and 
Perfians, in whofe countries they are frequently feen, as 
well as in many parts of India; the grandees of thefe luff 
parts not only ornamenting themfelves with thefe beau¬ 
tiful plumes, but adorning even their liorfes with the 
fame. Thefe birds are not found in Key, an ifland fifty 
Dutch miles eaft of Banda; but they are found at the 
Aron iflands, lying fifteen Dutch miles farther eaft than 
Key, during the wefterly or dry monfoon; and they 
return to New Guinea as loon as the eafterly or wet mon¬ 
foon lets in. They come always in a flock of thirty or 
forty ; and during their flight they cry like ltarlings. 
Their note, however, approaches more to the croaking 
of ravens; which is heard very plainly when they are in 
diftrefs from a frefli gale blowing on the back of their 
plumage. In Arou, thefe birds fettle on the higheft 
trees ; and the natives catch them with birdlime or in 
noofes, or (hoot them with blunt arrows; but, though 
fome are ftill alive when they fall into their hands, the 
catchers kill them immediately, not knowing their food ; 
then they draw out the entrails, dry and fumigate the 
bodies with fulphur, and fell them at Banda for half a 
rix-dollar each. Flocks of thefe birds are often feen 
flying from one ifland to the other againft the wind. In 
cafe they find the wind become t;oo powerful, they fly 
ftraight up into the air, till they come to a current 
where it is lefs agitated, and then continue their flight. 
During the eaftern monfoon their tails are moulting, fo 
that they have them only during four months of the 
weftern monfoon. The dried fpecimens indeed, which 
are brought to Europe, prefent great diverfity of appear¬ 
ance; in fize, in the number and pofition of the feathers, 
in the colours of the plumage, &c. But, in fuch muti¬ 
lated and imperfedl preparations, it is impoflibie to decide 
what mull be aferibed to the effedt of age, of fex, of fea- 
fon, of climate, and of other accidental caufes. Befides, 
the birds of,paradife being very expenfive articles of com¬ 
merce, many other birds, with long tails and an elegant 
plumage, have been paffed on the credulity of the public, 
and the legs and thighs pulled off, to conceal the fraud 
and enhance the price. We have already had an example 
in the paradife roller, mentioned by Edwards, on which 
the honours of mutilation had been conferred, in order 
to make it pafs for a bird of paradife. This beautiful 
fpecies is reprefented on the annexed Engraving, at fig. 1. 
2. Paradifea regia, the king bird of paradife : body 
chefnut, whitilh beneath, breaft bluifh ; the two middle 
tail-feathers filiform, feathered, and femilunar at the 
tips. 
The name of king-bird, given to this (pecies by the 
Englilh writers, had its origin in thofe fables that were 
propagated by the failors, who retailed the fidlions they had 
learned from the fuperllitious Indians. One of thefe was, 
j M that 
