I ' ' e
IV. II.,ri lUh.
.Mi/Urrn lirij^.imp.
PARADISORNIS RUDOLPHI, Finse/,
Prince Riulolpli's Bini of Paradise.
Paradlsornis miolpìd, Filiseli, Zeitsclir. ges. Oni. ii. p. SSfj, Taf . xx. (1885).—Filiseli ami Meyer, op. eit. iii. p. 21)
( 1 8 S 6 ) . — F i l i s e l i , Ibis, 1886, p. ì:<-2, pi. vii.—Sharpe, Nature, 188(i, p. ,—D'ilamoiiv. Hull, Sue. Ziiol.
F r a n c e , xi. p. SO!) (1880) .—Ramsay, Pr. Linn. Soe. N. S. W . (2) ii. p. 25 (1887).—Salvali. Kz'i- Oni.
P a p u a s i a , pt. ii. p. 163 (1890).
T i n s woiulcrfiil bird is an inliabitant of South-eastern New Guinea, and it is not saying too niiieii to state
t h a t , among all the extraordinary birds whicli inhal)it tlie earth, lliis is one of the most striking.
A c c u s t o m e d as naturalists have been to tlie fantastic coloration of the Birds of l*aradise, witli their iong
f l o w i n g yellow or red pinnies, no one could liavc expected that a bird existed which had blue streamers, as
w e find to be the case In the present bird.
T h e original examples were olitained in the Horseshoe range of mountains by the late Mr. Karl
H n u s t e i n , and they were described iii a joint |iaper by Dr . Otto Fiiisch and Dr. A. li. Meyer, the geniis
Paradisorms being character ized by the last-named ornithologist, while the species was deilicated to the late
C r o w n Prince of Austria by Dr . Firiseh. iMr. I I . O. Forbes afterwards met witli this fine species in the
S o g e r i district of the Owen Stanley Mountains, liiit be only obtained females, and Ibis was the case
s u b s e q u e n t l y with other collectors. Tlie late Mr. Ilugli Uomilly's collection at tlie Colonial Kxhibition
in South Kensington contained a couple of specimens of the present species, which were afterwards given
b y him to the Urilisli Museum, where they still remain: they were lilunvise female liirds, and the male is
u p to the present moment unrepresented in tlie Nat ional Collection.
T h e following descript ions are talien from the papers o fDr s . Firiscb and Meyer, above referred to : —
" iVIak. Front and sides of the head, necli, mid shoulders satiny lilack, with a (hn k yel lowisl i -grecn metallic
s h e e n , which disappears behind ; eyelashes long, white, silky ; beliind the eye a naked spot; back of head
a n d nape cherry-brown; back greenish blue mixed with lilaek. Wings aliove blue, in front brighter, tlie
l e s s e r and middle coverts edged with bright bine, as also the tertiaries on the inner webs; inner webs of
t h e «lugs black. ]5rcast-shield with long feathers, blackish, in certai n lights alternately glancing blnlsli and
g r e e n i s h , towards tiie belly terminating in a well-defined broad blue cross baud, anil on tlie sides passing
iiito the nllramarine of the ornamental plumes ; belly sbliilng satiny black. Under wing-coverts brownish
nil.xed with dark grey; axlllarles exteriorly brownish, interiorly bluish green; under siirfacc of wings
l i l a c k i s b grey, with brigliter inner edgings on the primaries and bluish on the secondaries. The ornamental
p l u m e s are divided into two port ions : the larger outer ones are rather rigid, and on the underside are bright
u l t r a m a r i n e blue at their bases and pass into lilac; on tlieir nppersides, i. e. on the hinder sides, they are
s h i n i n g brown ; the shafts of these feathers above at tlieir liases are white, witli the end half brown, below
t h e y are entirely bright brown. The smaller inner ornamental plumes, wliicb are in part strongly curved
i n w a r d s , are bright blue at their base, in the middle portion ultramarine or cobalt-blne, pa.ssing towards the
a p i c e s int o br ight greenisli bine ; npon the smaller o rnamental plumes lie as cover l s a row of shortened cbestniitb
r o w n feathers strongly curved, and upon part of them aiiolher row of black feathers. Tail bine above, witli
b r i g h t e r edgings, and" d i r t y greenisl i at the base; below il is uuiforni bright blue : two lengthened middle tailfeaMiers
car ry'at their ba^es hrownisli webs on a white shaf t ; at the end of the other tail-feathers these webs
d i s a p p e a r almost eiilirelv, and then again gradual l y increase to a b readt h of half a c ent ime t r e the two together ;
t h e spatula-shaped tips are about 7 millim. in d i ame t e r ; the colour of these feathers is above black, changing
t o violet; Iielow black, with a l ight blue s|iot at the tip ; the shafts are lilack both above and below. ]5ill
y e l l o w i s h ' w h i t e ; feet (in dried skin) brownish horli-colonr ; iris (according lo Iliinstein's informat ion) brown.
" Female. Flank-featbers loose and lengthened, on thei r iuner sides greenish blue ; belly rusty reddish with
d a r k cross bands ; the feathers on their undersides bluish green ; tail beneath with lightly marked shadings,
w h i c h disappear towards the end of the tail; thighs black ; feathers of tlie upjier back long, loose, satiny
b l a c k , beneat h greenish blue; side-feathers of the hinder neck lengthened and erectile."
T l i e figure of the adult male Is taken from a drawing made by Mr. J . G. Keulemans from the typical
s p e c i m e n ^ v h e n the latter was sent to England by D r . Meyer t o be figured in tlie • Ibi s . ' Dr. Meyer has very
k i n d l y supervised Mr. Hart' s figures for me, and made several corrections of details, so that I hope that this
P l a t e gives a more correct idea of the bird than any of those previously published. The typical male
s p e c i m e n is in the Dresden Museum, and tlie figure of the female has been taken from one of the examples
in the British Museum.