Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In accordance with these facts, we find the scale-formed plumes of the throat, the crests of
the head, and the long cirrhi of the tail, all fully developed before the plumes which spring
from the side of the body begin to make their appearance. If, on the other hand, the male
Paradise Birds have not acquired their distinctive plumage by successive variations, but
have been as they are now from the moment they first appeared upon the earth, this succes-
sion becomes at the least unintelligible to us, for we can see no reason why the changes
should not take place simultaneously, or in a reverse order to that in which they actually oc-
cur.
What is known of the habits of this bird, and the way in which it is captured by the nat-
The Red Bird of Paradise offers a remarkable case of restricted range, being entirely con-
fined to the small island of Waigiou, off the north-west extremity of New Guinea, where it
replaces the allied species found in the other islands.
The three birds just described form a well-marked group, agreeing in every point of gen-
eral structure, in their comparatively large size, the brown colour of their bodies, wings, and
tail, and in the peculiar character of the ornamental plumage which distinguishes the male
bird. The group ranges nearly over the whole area inhabited by the family of the Paradisei-
dæ, but each of the species has its own limited region, and is never found in the same dis-
trict with either of its close allies. To these three birds properly belongs the generic title
Paradisea, or true Paradise Bird.
The next species is the Paradisea regia of Linnæus, or King Bird of Paradise, which dif-
fers so much from the three preceding species as to deserve a distinct generic name, and it
has accordingly been called Cicinnurus regius. By the Malays it is called 'Burong rajah,' or
King Bird, and by the natives of the Aru Islands 'Goby-goby.'
This lovely little bird is only about six and a half inches long, partly owing to the very
short tail, which does not surpass the somewhat square wings. The head, throat, and entire
upper surface are of the richest glossy crimson red, shading to orange-crimson on the fore-
head, where the feathers extend beyond the nostrils more than half-way down the beak. The
plumage is excessively brilliant, shining in certain lights with a metallic or glassy lustre.
The breast and belly are pure silky white, between which colour and the red of the throat
there is a broad band of rich metallic green, and there is a small spot of the same colour
close above each eye. From each side of the body beneath the wing, springs a tuft of broad
delicate feathers about an inch and a half long, of an ashy colour, but tipped with a broad
band of emerald green, bordered within by a narrow line of buff. These plumes are con-
cealed beneath the wing, but when the bird pleases, can be raised and spread out so as to
