His Legs Are Almost
As Thick As A Man's Wrist, Having Five Great Claws On Each Foot.
The
back is high and round, both it and the pinions being covered with long
hair instead of feathers.
The female of this bird lays an egg so large
that its shell will hold an English pint of fluid, having a thick shell,
spotted with green and white, and exactly like China-ware. I never
tasted the eggs of this bird, but its flesh is good eating, resembling
that of a turkey, but stronger.
The birds of paradise are about the size of pigeons, and are never
seen here alive, neither is it known whence they come. I have seen
several of them at Amboina preserved in spice, in which state they are
sent as rarities to several parts of the world. These birds are said to
resort, in February and March, when the nutmegs are ripe, to Banda and
Amboina, where they feed on the outer rind of the nutmeg, after which
they fall to the ground, quite stupified, or as it were dead drunk, when
innumerable ants gather about them, and eat them up. There are here many
kinds of fish, but the most remarkable is the sea-porcupine, which is
about three feet long, and two and a half feet round, having large eyes,
two fins on the back, and a large fin on each side, near the gills. Its
body is all beset with sharp spines, or quills, like a porcupine, whence
its name is derived.
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