I Had Great Difficulty, However, In Supplying Them With
Insect Food, For In The Peninsular And Oriental Steamers
Cockroaches Were
Scarce, and it was only by setting traps in the
store-rooms, and by hunting an hour every night in
The
forecastle, that I could secure a few dozen of these creatures, -
scarcely enough for a single meal. At Malta, where I stayed a
fortnight, I got plenty of cockroaches from a bake-house, and
when I left, took with me several biscuit-tins' full, as
provision for the voyage home. We came through the Mediterranean
in March, with a very cold wind; and the only place on board the
mail-steamer where their large cage could be accommodated was
exposed to a strong current of air down a hatchway which stood
open day and night, yet the birds never seemed to feel the cold.
During the night journey from Marseilles to Paris it was a sharp
frost; yet they arrived in London in perfect health, and lived in
the Zoological Gardens for one, and two years, often displaying
their beautiful plumes to the admiration of the spectators. It is
evident, therefore, that the Paradise Birds are very hardy, and
require air and exercise rather than heat; and I feel sure that
if a good sized conservators` could be devoted to them, or if
they could be turned loose in the tropical department of the
Crystal Palace or the Great Palm House at Kew, they would live in
this country for many years.
The Red Bird of Paradise (Paradisea rubra of Viellot), though
allied to the two birds already described, is much more distinct
from them than they are from each other. It is about the same
size as Paradisea papuana (13 to 14 inches long), but differs
from it in many particulars. The side plumes, instead of being
yellow, are rich crimson, and only extend about three or four
inches beyond the end of the tail; they are somewhat rigid, and
the ends are curved downwards and inwards, and are tipped with
white. The two middle tail feathers, instead of being simply
elongated and deprived of their webs, are transformed into stiff
black ribands, a quarter of an inch wide, but curved like a split
quill, and resembling thin half cylinders of horn or whalebone.
When a dead bird is laid on its back, it is seen that these
ribands take a curve or set, which brings them round so as to
meet in a double circle on the neck of the bird; but when they
hang downwards, during life, they assume a spiral twist, and form
an exceedingly graceful double curve. They are about twenty-two
inches long, and always attract attention as the most conspicuous
and extraordinary feature of the species. The rich metallic green
colour of the throat extends over the front half of the head to
behind the eyes, and on the forehead forms a little double crest
of scaly feathers, which adds much to the vivacity of the bird's
aspect.
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