It Differs In Its
Lighter Brown Colour, Not Becoming Darker Or Purpled On The
Breast; In The Extension Of The
Yellow colour all over the upper
part of the back and on the wing coverts; in the lighter yellow
of
The side plumes, which have only a tinge of orange, and at the
tips are nearly pure white; and in the comparative shortness of
the tail cirrhi. The female differs remarkably front the same sex
in Paradisea apoda, by being entirely white on the under surface
of the body, and is thus a much handsomer bird. The young males
are similarly coloured, and as they grow older they change to
brown, and go through the same stages in acquiring the perfect
plumage as has already been described in the allied species. It
is this bird which is most commonly used in ladies' head-dresses
in this country, and also forms an important article of commerce
in the East.
The Paradisea papuana has a comparatively wide range, being the
common species on the mainland of New Guinea, as well as on the
islands of Mysol, Salwatty, Jobie, Biak and Sook. On the south
coast of New Guinea, the Dutch naturalist, Muller, found it at
the Oetanata river in longitude 136° E. I obtained it myself at
Dorey; and the captain of the Dutch steamer Etna informed me that
he had seen the feathers among the natives of Humboldt Bay, in
141° E. longitude. It is very probable, therefore, that it ranges
over the whole of the mainland of New Guinea.
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