The Body, Wings, And Tail Are Of A Rich Coffee-Brown,
Which Deepens On The Breast To A Blackish-Violet
Or purple-brown.
The whole top of the head and neck is of an exceedingly delicate
straw-yellow, the feathers
Being short and
close set, so as to resemble plush or velvet; the lower part of
the throat up to the eye clothed with scaly feathers of an
emerald, green colour, and with a rich metallic gloss, and
velvety plumes of a still deeper green extend in a band across
the forehead and chin as far as the eye, which is bright yellow.
The beak is pale lead blue; and the feet, which are rather large
and very strong and well formed, are of a pale ashy-pink. The two
middle feathers of the tail have no webs, except a very small one
at the base and at the extreme tip, forming wire-like cirrhi,
which spread out in an elegant double curve, and vary from
twenty-four to thirty-four inches long. From each side of the
body, beneath the wings, springs a dense tuft of long and
delicate plumes, sometimes two feet in length, of the most
intense golden-orange colour and very glossy, but changing
towards the tips into a pale brown. This tuft of plumage cam be
elevated and spread out at pleasure, so as almost to conceal the
body of the bird.
These splendid ornaments are entirely confined to the male sex,
while the female is really a very plain and ordinary-looking bird
of a uniform coffee-brown colour which never changes, neither
does she possess the long tail wires, nor a single yellow or
green feather about the dead. 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 arc 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.
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