bag, and consequently its tail- and wing-feathers were 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 o f a few days or a week some o f 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 o f starvation and
worry. One had its beautiful head all defiled by'pitch from a dammar torch ; another had been so long
dead that its stomach was turning green. Luckily, however, the skin and plumage o f 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 clean 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 o f 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 o f a fruit they were very fond o f ; and I was pleased to find they ate it
greedily, and would also take any number o f live grasshoppers I gave them, stripping off the legs and wings,
and then swallowing them. They drank plenty o f 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 o f the third day they were almost always found dead at the bottom o f the cage, without any
apparent cause. Some o f them ate boiled rice, as well as fruits and insects; but, after trying many in
succession, not one out of ten lived more tban 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, o f 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 fruit, its legs are caught; and by pulling the end
o f 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 bite;
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.’ ”
Male.—Fore part o f the head, chin, cheeks, and throat rich metallic grass-green, appearing black
upon the chin. Over each eye the feathers are raised, forming two short tufts. Back o f head orange-
yellow. All the feathers o f 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 o f 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 springs a mass o f deep
red plumes, which glisten like glass, as is seen in the upper part o f the plumage o f Cicinnui'us regius,
becoming white towards the ends on both webs and shafts, the former widely separated and hair-like. From
the lower part o f the back fall two very long and 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.
Female.— Fore part o f head, chin, cheeks, and throat very dark chestnut-brown. Back o f head, and
upper part o f breast yellow. Upper part o f back or mantle dark ochre-yellow. Entire rest o f plumage,
including wings and tail, dark brownish chestnut. Bill horn-colour. Feet and tarsi black.
Hab. Waigiou (Wallace) ; islands o f Ghemien and Batanta (Bernstevi).
T