c i c S r a r ó M i s . K E G - im s ,
CICINNURUS REGIUS.
King1 Bird of Paradise.
The supposed King o f the greater Birds o f Paradise, Edwards, Birds, iii. pi. 3 ( 1 7 SO).
Le Pe tit Oiseau de Paradis, Briss. Orn. ii. p. 136 (1 7 6 0 ).
Paradisea Regia, Linn. S. N. i. p. 166 (1 7 6 6 ).—Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii. pt. ii. p. 497, pi. 67 (1 8 0 9 )— Less. Voy. Coq.
i. p. 658, Atlas, pi. 26 (18 2 6 ).—Wagler, Syst. Av. Paradisea, sp. 7 (18 2 9 ).—Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 323
(1 8 4 7 ).—Schl. Hand-1. Dierk. i. p. 332, Atlas, pi. 4. fig. 46 (18 5 7 ).—Gray, Hand-1. B. ii. p. 16 (18 7 0 ).—
SeH. M. P.-B. Coraces, p. 88 (18 6 7 ).—Wall. Malay Arch. ii. p. 132 (18 6 9 ).—Schl. N. T. D. iv. pp. 17,
49 (1 8 7 3 ).—Wagner, Zool. Gart. 1873, p. 10.
Le Mamcode, Buff. Hist. Nat. Ois. iii. p. 163, pi. 13.—Id. PI. Enl. iii. pi. 496 (17 7 4 ).—Vieill. Ois. Dor. (Oiseaux de
Paradis) ii. p. 16, pi. 5 (18 0 2 ).—Levaill. Ois. Parad. i. pis. 7, 8 (1 8 0 6 ).
Le Roi des Oiseaux de Paradis, Sonn. Voy. N. Guin. i .p . 156, pi. 95 (17 7 6 ).
King Paradise-hird, Lath. Gen. Syn. i. p. 475 (1 7 8 2 ).
Cicinnurus regius, Vieill. Gal. Ois. i. p. 146, pi. 96 (1 8 2 5 ).—Bp. Consp. i. p. 413 (1 850).—Elliot, Monogr. Parad.
pi. 16 (1873).—Salvad. & d’Albert. Ann. Mus. Civ. Genoa, 1875, p. 832.
Cicinnurus spiniturnix, Less. Ois. Parad. Synopsis, p. 14 (1835)'.—Id. Hist. N. Ois. Parad. p. 182, pis. 1 6 ,1 7 , 18
(1 8 3 5 ).
A l t h o u g h one o f the smallest o f the Paradise-birds, the present species yields to none in the beauty o f its
plumage or the elegance o f its form ; while its wire-like caudal plumes are just as remarkable in structure
as any o f the fantastic decorations which adorn the larger kinds. Its range is, for a Bird o f Paradise, rather
extended. It seems to be found all over New Guinea, as it has been met with in the Bays of Lobo and
Triton and, more recently, in the south-eastern part of the island, at Mount Epa, by Signor d’Albertis. A
large number o f specimens were collected in Salwatti by the Dutch travellers Bernstein and Von Rosenberg,
as well as on the opposite coast o f New Guinea, at Sorong &c. Von Rosenberg procured it in the island
of Jobie, and also in the islands of Woxam and Wonoumbai of the Aru group. It is from the last-named
islands and from Mysol that the largest number o f specimens have come to this country, from the collections
o f Mr. Wallace and, more recently, Of Mr. Cockerell. Notwithstanding the fact that specimens from all
the above localities have been pronounced identical, I am in possession o f facts which induce me to believe
in the existence of, at least, two species o f King Birds o f Paradise.
As regards the habits o f the Cicinnurus in Aru, it is impossible to do better than to quote the admirable
account given by Mr. Wallace in his ‘Malay Archipelago.’ He says, “ The first two or three days o f our
stay here were very wet, and I obtained but few insects or birds; but at length, when I was beginning
to despair, my boy Baderoon returned one day with a specimen which repaid me for months o f delay
and expectation. It was a small bird, a little less than the Thrush. Merely in arrangement o f colours
and texture o f plumage, this little bird was a gem o f the first water; yet these comprised only half its
strange beauty. Springing from each side of the breast, and ordinarily lying concealed under the wings,
were little tufts o f greyish feathers about two inches long and each terminated by a broad band o f intense
emerald-green. These plumes can be raised at the will o f the bird, and spread out into a pair o f elegant
fans when the wings are elevated. But this is not the only ornament. The two middle feathers of the
tail are in the form of slender wires about five inches long and which diverge in a beautiful curve.
Almost half an inch o f the end o f this wire is webbed on the outer side only, and coloured o f a fine
metallic green; and being curved spirally inwards, they form a pair of elegant glittering buttons, hanging
five inches below the body, and at the same distance apart. These two ornaments, the breast-fans and
the spiral-tipped tail-wires, are altogether unique, not occurring on any other species o f the eight thousand
different birds that are known to exist upon the earth, and, combined with the most exquisite beauty of
plumage, render this one o f the most perfectly lovely o f the many lovely productions o f nature. My
transports o f admiration and delight quite amused my Aru hosts, who saw nothing more in ‘ Burong raja ’
than we do in the Robin or Goldfinch. Thus one o f my objects in coming to the far east was
accomplished. I had obtained a specimen o f the King Bird of Paradise, which had beén described by
Linnaeus from skins preserved in a mutilated state by the natives. I knew how few Europeans had ever
beheld the perfect little organism I now gazed upon, and how very imperfectly it was still known in Europe.
The emotions excited in the mind o f a naturalist who has long desired to see the actual thing which he has
hitherto known only by description, drawing, or badly preserved external covering, especially when that
thing is o f surpassing rarity and beauty, require the poetic faculty fully to express them. After the first