The Outermost Feathers Of This
Shield Are Half An Inch Longer Than The Wing, And When It Is
Elevated It Must, In Conjunction With The Breast Shield,
Completely Change The Form And Whole Appearance Of The Bird.
The
bill is black, and the feet appear to be yellow.
This wonderful little bird inhabits the interior of the northern
peninsula of New Guinea only. Neither I nor Mr. Allen could hear
anything of it in any of the islands or on any part of the coast.
It is true that it was obtained from the coast-natives by Lesson;
but when at Sorong in 1861, Mr. Allen learnt that it is only
found three days' journey in the interior. Owing to these "Black
Birds of Paradise," as they are called, not being so much valued
as articles of merchandise, they now seem to be rarely preserved
by the natives, and it thus happened that during several years
spent on the coasts of New Guinea and in the Moluccas I was never
able to obtain a skin. We are therefore quite ignorant of the
habits of this bird, and also of its female, though the latter is
no doubt as plain and inconspicuous as in all the other species
of this family.
The Golden, or Six-shafted, Paradise Bird, is another rare
species, first figured by Buffon, and never yet obtained in
perfect condition. It was named by Boddaert, Paradisea sexpennis,
and forms the genus Parotia of Viellot. This wonderful bird is
about the size of the female Paradisea rubra. The plumage appear,
at first sight black, but it glows in certain light with bronze
and deep purple. The throat and breast are scaled with broad flat
feathers of an intense golden hue, changing to green and blue
tints in certain lights. On the back of the head is a broad
recurved band of feathers, whose brilliancy is indescribable,
resembling the sheen of emerald and topaz rather than any organic
substance. Over the forehead is a large patch of pure white
feathers, which shine like satin; and from the sides of the head
spring the six wonderful feathers from which the bird receives
its name. These are slender wires, six inches long, with a small
oval web at the extremity. In addition to these ornaments, there
is also an immense tuft of soft feathers on each side of the
breast, which when elevated must entirely hide the wings, and
give the bird au appearance of being double its real bulk. The
bill is black, short, and rather compressed, with the feathers
advancing over the nostrils, as in Cicinnurus regius. This
singular and brilliant bird inhabits the same region as the
Superb Bird of Paradise, and nothing whatever is known about it
but what we can derive from an examination of the skins preserved
by the natives of New Guinea.
The Standard Wing, named Semioptera wallacei by Mr. G. R. Gray,
is an entirely new form of Bird of Paradise, discovered by myself
in the island of Batchian, and especially distinguished by a pair
of long narrow feathers of a white colour, which spring from
among the short plumes which clothe the bend of the wing, and are
capable of being erected at pleasure. The general colour of this
bird is a delicate olive-brown, deepening to a loud of bronzy
olive in the middle of the back, and changing to a delicate ashy
violet with a metallic gloss, on the crown of the head. The
feathers, which cover the nostrils and extend half-way down the
beak, are loose and curved upwards. Beneath, it is much more
beautiful. The scale-like feathers of the breast are margined
with rich metallic blue-green, which colour entirely covers the
throat and sides of the neck, as well as the long pointed plumes
which spring from the sides of the breast, and extend nearly as
far as the end of the wings. The most curious feature of the
bird, however, and one altogether unique in the whole class, is
found in the pair of long narrow delicate feathers which spring
from each wing close to the bend. On lifting the wing-coverts
they are seen to arise from two tubular horny sheaths, which
diverge from near the point of junction of the carpal bones. As
already described at p. 41, they are erectile, and when the bird
is excited are spread out at right angles to the wing and
slightly divergent. They are from six to six and a half inches
long, the upper one slightly exceeding the lower. The total
length of the bird is eleven inches. The bill is horny olive, the
iris deep olive, and the feet bright orange.
The female bird is remarkably plain, being entirely of a dull
pale earthy brown, with only a slight tinge of ashy violet on the
head to relieve its general monotony; and the young males exactly
resemble her. (See figures at p. 41.)
This bird, frequents the lower trees of the forests, and, like
most Paradise Birds, is in constant motion - flying from branch to
branch, clinging to the twigs and even to the smooth and vertical
trunks almost as easily as a woodpecker. It continually utters a
harsh, creaking note, somewhat intermediate between that of
Paradisea apoda, and the more musical cry of Cicinnurus regius.
The males at short intervals open and flutter their wings, erect
the long shoulder feathers, and spread out the elegant green
breast shields.
The Standard Wing is found in Gilolo as well as in Batchian, and
all the specimens from the former island have the green breast
shield rather longer, the crown of the head darker violet, and
the lower parts of the body rather more strongly scaled with
green. This is the only Paradise Bird yet found in the Moluccan
district, all the others being confined to the Papuan Islands and
North Australia.
We now come to the Epimachidae, or Long-billed Birds of Paradise,
which, as before stated, ought not to be separated from the
Paradiseidae by the intervention of any other birds.
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