The Scale-Breasted Paradise Bird (Epimachus Magnificus Of Cuvier)
Is Now Generally Placed With The Australian Rifle Birds In The
Genus Ptiloris.
Though very beautiful, these birds are less
strikingly decorated with accessory plumage than the other
species we have been describing, their chief ornament being a
more or less developed breastplate of stiff metallic green
feathers, and a small tuft of somewhat hairy plumes on the sides
of the breast.
The back and wings of this species are of an
intense velvety black, faintly glossed in certain lights with
rich purple. The two broad middle tail feathers are opalescent
green-blue with a velvety surface, and the top of the head is
covered with feathers resembling scales of burnished steel. A
large triangular space covering the chin, throat, and breast, is
densely scaled with feathers, having a steel-blue or green
lustre, and a silky feel. This is edged below with a narrow band
of black, followed by shiny bronzy green, below which the body is
covered with hairy feathers of a rich claret colour, deepening to
black at the tail. The tufts of side plumes somewhat resemble
those of the true Birds of Paradise, but are scanty, about as
long as the tail, and of a black colour. The sides of the head
are rich violet, and velvety feathers extend on each side of the
beak over the nostrils.
I obtained at Dorey a young male of this bird, in a state of
plumage which is no doubt that of the adult female, as is the
case in all the allied species.
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