Travel Reference
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changes, neither does she possess the long tail wires, nor a single yellow or green feather
about the head. The young males of the first year exactly resemble the females, so that they
can only be distinguished by dissection. The first change is the acquisition of the yellow and
green colour on the head and throat, and at the same time the two middle tail feathers grow a
few inches longer than the rest, but remain webbed on both sides. At a later period these
feathers are replaced by the long bare shafts of the full length, as in the adult bird; but there
is still no sign of the magnificent orange side-plumes, which later still complete the attire of
the perfect male. To effect these changes there must be at least three successive moultings;
and as the birds were found by me in all the stages about the same time, it is probable that
they moult only once a year, and that the full plumage is not acquired till the bird is four
years old. It was long thought that the fine train of feathers was assumed for a short time
only at the breeding season, but my own experience, as well as the observation of birds of
an allied species which I brought home with me, and which lived two years in this country,
show that the complete plumage is retained during the whole year, except during a short
period of moulting as with most other birds.
The Great Bird of Paradise is very active and vigorous, and seems to be in constant mo-
tion all day long. It is very abundant, small flocks of females and young males being con-
stantly met with; and though the full-plumaged birds are less plentiful, their loud cries,
which are heard daily, show that they also are very numerous. Their note is, 'Wawk-wawk-
wawk—Wŏk, wŏk-wŏk,' and is so loud and shrill as to be heard a great distance, and to
form the most prominent and characteristic animal sound in the Aru Islands. The mode of
nidification is unknown; but the natives told me that the nest was formed of leaves placed
on an ant's nest, or on some projecting limb of a very lofty tree, and they believe that it con-
tains only one young bird. The egg is quite unknown, and the natives declared they had nev-
er seen it; and a very high reward offered for one by a Dutch official did not meet with suc-
cess. They moult about January or February, and in May, when they are in full plumage, the
males assemble early in the morning to exhibit themselves in the singular manner already
described at p. 494 . This habit enables the natives to obtain specimens with comparative
ease. As soon as they find that the birds have fixed upon a tree on which to assemble, they
build a little shelter of palm leaves in a convenient place among the branches, and the hunter
ensconces himself in it before daylight, armed with his bow and a number of arrows termin-
ating in a round knob. A boy waits at the foot of the tree, and when the birds come at sun-
rise, and a sufficient number have assembled, and have begun to dance, the hunter shoots
with his blunt arrow so strongly as to stun the bird, which drops down, and is secured and
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