Papuans who catch and preserve them. I hired a small outrigger boat for this journey, and left one *of my men
to guard my house and goods. # * # * My first business: was to send for the men who were accustomed to catch
the Birds of Paradise. Several came ; and I showed them my hatchets, beads, knives, and handkerchiefs, and
explained to them as well as I could by signs the price I would give for fresh-killed specimens. It is the universal
custom to pay for every thing in advance ; but only one man ventured to take goods to the value of two birds. The
rest were suspicious, and wanted to see the result of the first bargain with the strange white man, the only one
who had ever come to their island. After three days my man brought me the first bird—a very fine specimen, and '
alive, but tied up in a small bag, and consequently its tail- and wing-feathers very much crushed and injured. I
tried to explain to him, and to others that came with him, that I wanted them as perfect as possible, and that
they should either kill them or keep them on a perch with a string to their leg. As they were now apparently
satisfied that all was fair, and that I had no ulterior designs upon them, six others took away goods, some for one
bird, some for more, and one for as many as six. They said they had to go a long way for them, and that they
would come back as soon as they caught any. At intervals of a few days or a week some of them would return,
bringing me one or more birds; but though they did not bring any more in bags, there was not much improvement
in their condition. As they caught them a long way off in the- forest, they would scarcely ever come with one,
but would tie it by the legs to a stick, and put it in their house till they caught another. . The poor creature would
make violent efforts to escape, would get among the ashes, or hang suspended by the leg till the limb was swollen
or half-putrefied, and sometimes die of starvation and worry. One had its beautiful head all defiled by pitch from a
Aarr.mur torch; another had been so long dead that its stomach was turning green. Luckily, however, the slrin and
plumage of these birds is so firm and strong that they bear washing and cleaning better than almost any other sort;
and I was generally able to 6lean them so well that they did not perceptibly differ from those I had shot myself.
Some few were brought me the same day they were caught, and I had an opportunity of examining them, in all their
beauty and vivacity. As soon as I found they were generally brought alive, I set one o f my men to make a large
bamboo cage, with troughs for food and water, hoping to be able to keep some of them. I got the natives to bring
me branches of a fruit they were very fond of; and I was pleased to find they ate it greedily, and would also take
any number of live grasshoppers I gave them, stripping.off the legs and wings, and then swallowing them.. They
drank plenty of water, and were in constant motion, jumping about the cage from- perch to perch, clinging to the
top and sides, and rarely resting a moment the first day till nightfall, The second day they were always less active;
although they would eat as freely as before; and on the morning of the third day they were almost always found
dead at the bottom of the cage, without any apparent cause. Some of them ate boiled rice, as well as fruits and
insects; but, after trying many in succession, not one out o f ten lived more than three days. The second or third
day they would be dull, and in several cases they were seized with convulsions and fell off the perch, dying a few.
hours afterwards. I tried immature as well as full-plumaged birds, but with no better success, and at length gave it
up as a hopeless task, and confined my attention to preserving specimens in as good a condition as possible.
“ The Red Birds of Paradise are not shot with blunt arrows, as in the Aru Islands and some parts of New
Guinea, but are snared in a very ingenious manner. A large climbing Arum bears a red reticulated fruit, of
which the birds are very fond. The hunters fasten this fruit on a stout forked stick, and provide themselves
with a fine but strong cord. They then seek out some tree in the forest on which these birds are accustomed
to perch, and, climbing up it, fasten the stick to a branch and arrange the cord in a noose so ingeniously that
when the bird comes to eat the firuit its legs are caught; and by pulling the end of the cord, which hangs
down to the ground, it comes free from the branch and brings down the bird. Sometimes, when food is
abundant elsewhere, the hunter sits from morning till night under his tree, with the cord in his hand, and even
for two or three whole 'days in succession, without even getting a b ite ; while, on the other hand, if very
lucky, he may get two or three birds in a day. There are only eight or ten men in Bessir who practise
this art, which is unknown anywhere else in the island. I determined, therefore, to stay as long as possible,
as my only chance of getting a good series of specimens; and although I was nearly starved, every thing eatable
by civilized man being scarce or altogether absent, 1 finally succeeded. # # # # Towards the end of September it
became absolutely necessary for me to return, in order to make our homeward voyage before the. end o f the
east monsoon. Most of the men who had taken payment from me had brought the birds they had agreed for.
One poor fellow had been so unfortunate as not to get one, and he very honestly brought back the axe he
had received in advance; another, who had agreed for six, brought me the fifth two days before I was to
start, and went off immediately to the forest again to get the other. He did not return, however ; and we
loaded our boat, and were just on the point of starting when he came running down after us, holding up a
bird, which he handed to me saying, with great satisfaction, ‘Now I owe you nothing.’ These were remarkable
and quite unexpected instances of honesty among savages, where it would have been very easy to them to have
been dishonest, without fear of detection or punishment. # # # The Red Bird of Paradise offers a remarkable
case of restricted range, being entirely confined to the small island of Waigiou, off the north-west extremity of
New Guinea, where it replaces the allied species found in the other islands.”
Male.—Fore part of head, chin, cheeks, and throat rich metallic grass-green, appearing black upon the chin.
Over each 1 eye thè feathers are raised, forming two short tufts. Back of head orange-yellow. All the feathers
of the head are short, velvety, and closely pressed together, and project over the bill, above and below, hiding
the nostrils. Upper part of back, scapulars, shoulders, upper part of breast, and rump orange-yellow. Wings,
tail, back, and entire underparts dark chestnut-brown, darkest on the breast, where it is almost a blackish
brown. From each side beneath the wings spring a mass of deep-red plumes, which glisten like glass, as is
seen in the upper part of the plumage of C. regius, becoming white towards the ends, on both webs and
shaft, the former widely separated and hair-like. From the lower part of the back fall two very long webless
shafts, black and twisted, which descend on either side of the tail in graceful double curves, and, like the side
plumes, constitute very conspicuous appendages. The bill is lead-colour at the base, light horn-colour for the
remaining portion. Feet and tarsi black.
Male in the second moult: similar to the adult just described; but the upper part of the back is much darker,
ochreous brown, and the rump is chestnut-brown like the wings, instead of yellow. The side plumes are wanting,
not having yet appeared, although the feathers are somewhat elongated beneath the wings. The long wiry shafts
have towards their ends narrow rufous brown webs, which disappear in the adult dress.
Female.—Fore part of head, chin, cheeks, and throat very dark chestnut-brown. Back of head, and upper part
of breast, yellow. Upper part of back or mantle dark ochre-yellow. Entire rest of plumage, including wings and
tail, dark brownish chestnut. Bill horn-colour, lead-colour at base. . Feet and tarsi black.