Some Of
These Native Skins Are Very Clean, And Often Have Wings And Feet
Left On; Others Are Dreadfully Stained With Smoke, And All Hive A
Most Erroneous Idea Of The Proportions Of The Living Bird.
The Paradisea apoda, as far as we have any certain knowledge, is
confined to the mainland of the Aru Islands, never being found in
the smaller islands which surround the central mass.
It is
certainly not found in any of the parts of New Guinea visited by
the Malay and Bugis traders, nor in any of the other islands
where Birds of Paradise are obtained. But this is by no means
conclusive evidence, for it is only in certain localities that
the natives prepare skins, and in other places the same birds may
be abundant without ever becoming known. It is therefore quite
possible that this species may inhabit the great southern mass of
New Guinea, from which Aru has been separated; while its near
ally, which I shall next describe, is confined to the north-
western peninsula.
The Lesser Bird of Paradise (Paradisea papuana of Bechstein), "Le
petit Emeraude" of French authors, is a much smaller bird than
the preceding, although very similar to it. 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.
The true Paradise Birds are omnivorous, feeding on fruits and
insects - of the former preferring the small figs; of the latter,
grasshoppers, locusts, and phasmas, as well as cockroaches and
caterpillars. When I returned home, in 1862, I was so fortunate
as to find two adult males of this species in Singapore; and as
they seemed healthy, and fed voraciously on rice, bananas, and
cockroaches, I determined on giving the very high price asked for
them - £100. - and to bring them to England by the overland route
under my own care. On my way home I stayed a week at Bombay, to
break the journey, and to lay in a fresh stock of bananas for my
birds. 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.
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