AST r\Ai> IA NI GRA
ASTRAPIA NIGRA.
INCOMPARABLE BIRD OF PARADISE.
GORGET BIRD OF PARADISE, Lath. Gen. Syn. (1782) p. 478, pi. xx.—Id. Gen. H is t vol. Hi. ( 1822) p. 196. sp. 14.
PARADISEA NIGRA, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. pt. i. (1788) p. 401. sp. 6.—Bechst. Kurz. Uebers. (1811) p. 132. sp. 7.
PARADISEA GULARIS, Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. (1790) p. 196, sp. 5.—Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. vii. p t ii. (1 809) p. 501, pis. 69 & 70.
LA PIE DE PARADIS OU L’INCOMPARABLE, LevailL Hist. N a t Ois. Parad. vol. i. (1806) pis. 20, 21, & 22.
LE HAUSSE-COL DORE, Vieill. Ois. Dor. vol. ii. (1802) p. 22, pis. 8 & 9.
EPIMACHUS NIGER, Schleg. Mus. Pays-Bas, (1867) p. 94.
L'OISEAU DE PARADIS A GORGE D’OR, Sonnini, edit. Buff. t. ix. p. 23.
ASTRAPIA'GULARIS, Vieill. Gal. des Ois. tom, i. p. 109, pi. 107 (1826).—Less. Trait. Ornith. (1831) p. 338.—Schleg. Journ. fur Ornith.
(1861) p. 386.—Von Rosenb. Journ. fur Ornith. (1864) p. 131.—Less. Ois. Parad. (1835), Syn. p. 18. sp. 8.—Id. Hist. Nat. p. 106,
7 pis.'21, 22, & 23.
ASTRAPIA NIGRA, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. (1850) p. 414.—Gray, Gen. Birds, vol. ii. p. 326. sp. 1.—Id. l i s t Gen. Birds (1855), p. 65.—Id.
Proc. Zool. Soc. (1861) p. 436.—Wall. Proc. Zool. Soc. (1862) pp. 154, 156, 159, & 160.—Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. xiv. (1826) sp. 75.—
Wall. Malay Archip. vol. ii. p. 257.
H a b . New Guinea (Interior), Island of Jobie? (Sch l eg e l ).
I h a t e had occasion frequently, when .writing of the birds comprised in this Monograph, to call attention to
the extraordinary and unusual display of most beautiful plumage presented for our admiration hy many of the
members of the Paradiseidte. But in the present . instance words, equally with all attempts at pictorial
representation, feil to express the, gorgeous appearance of the wonderful creature whose portrait, so far as art
can accomplish, is here given. It would seem as if Nature herself had striven to surpass her previous creations
i„ the production of this magnificent hird, and to the liberal gifts of tufts, and crest, and lengthened tail bad
added that of the most brilliant colouring—so bright and fiery in certain parts as almost to cause the artist to
despair of representing it by the ordinary means.. In fact, we may well feel assured that nothing in the power
of man can give an adequate idea of the splendid appearance of an adult male of this species when at liberty
in his woods; bis dress' of metallic colours fiashes back, an;he moves amid the forest, in equally brilliant
scintillations, the fiery rays of a tropical sun. The interior 'of New Guinea, among whose unknown mountain-
ranges so many of this'family have their homes, is also . the -native region of the Jctrapm nigra; and from this
terra incognita a few mutilated skins have at various times been, brought to Europe. Until very lately, no white
man bad been able to penetrate into the interior of New Guinea, researches having been confined to the
coasts all ingress having been opposed by' the savage tribes who inhabit the land, either from then fear of
some unknown evil falling upon themselves • or from jealousy that a rival'tribe might reap some supposed
advantage from the strange white man’s presence among them. Another reason to explain the great difficulty of
travelling in New Guinea is the feet that disputes between the tribes of the coast' and those of the interior
are constantly arising; and those which to-day might be at peace with each other, and willing to allow a
traveller to pass their respective boundaries, might be to-morrow in deadly strife (so slight are the circumstances
that inaugurate savage worfere, and so rapidly does it attain its deadliest phase), and therefore render
it impossible for any one to pass from one nation to another. Only one European has ever succeeded m
penetrating to the mountains of New Guinea-M. von Bosenburg, who, after several years of van. effort,
only lately succeeded in finding a vulnérable spot, and was enabled to reach the mountains and ascend to the
height of from 4000 to 5000 feet. This, traveller was sent out by the Government of the Netherlands in the
service of science to procure materials to enrich then- already unrivalled museum in Leyden; and the success
of their efforts (for M. von Bosenburg and his co-labourers have made many discoveries in natural science m
their joumeyings in the Eastern archipelago) only shows how much a well-directed effort can accomplish towards