breasted Paradise Bird seems to be confined to the mainland of New Guinea, and
is less rare than several of the other species.
There are three other New Guinea birds which are by some authors classed
with the Birds of Paradise, and which, being almost equally remarkable for
splendid plumage, deserve to be noticed here. The first is the Paradise pie
(Astrapia nigra of Lesson), a bird of the size of Paradises rubra, but with a very
long tail, glossed above with intense violet. The back is bronzy black, the lower
parts green, the throat and neck bordered with loose broad feathers of an intense
coppery hue, while on the top of the head and neck they are glittering emerald
green, All the plumage round the head is lengthened and erectile, and when
spread out by the living bird must lave an effect hardly surpassed by any of the
true Paradise birds. The bill is black and the feet yellow. The Astrapia seems to
me to be somewhat intermediate between the Paradiseidae and Epimachidae.
There is an allied species, having a bare carunculated head, which has been
called Paradigalla carunculata. It is believed to inhabit, with the preceding, the
mountainous, interior of New Guinea, but is exceedingly rare, the only known
specimen being in the Philadelphia Museum.
The Paradise Oriole is another beautiful bird, which is now sometimes classed
with the Birds of Paradise. It has been named Paradises aurea and Oriolus aureus
by the old naturalists, and is now generally placed in the same genus as the
Regent Bird of Australia (Sericulus chrysocephalus). But the form of the bill and
the character of the plumage seem to me to be so different that it will have to
form a distinct genus. This bird is almost entirely yellow, with the exception of
the throat, the tail, and part of the wings and back, which are black; but it is
chiefly characterised by a quantity of long feathers of an intense glossy orange
colour, which cover its neck down to the middle of the back, almost like the
hackles of a game-cock.
This beautiful bird inhabits the mainland of New Guinea, and is also found in
Salwatty, but is so rare that I was only able to obtain one imperfect native skin,
and nothing whatever is known of its habits.
I will now give a list of all the Birds of Paradise yet known, with the places
they are believed to inhabit.
- Paradisea apoda (The Great Paradise Bird). Aru Islands.
- Paradisea papuana (The Lesser Paradise Bird). New Guinea. Mysol, Jobie.
- Paradisea rubra (The Red Paradise Bird). Waigiou.
- Cicinnurus regius (The King Paradise Bird). New Guinea, Aru Islands,
Mysol, Salwatty.