'I'lic two niiddlc feathers of tlie tail are in tlie form of slender wires about five inches long and whicli
diverge in a heantitiil curve. Almost half an inch of the end of this wire is webbed on the outer side only,
atid coloured of a fine metallic green ; and being curved sjiirally 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
sj)ecics of the eight thousand dillerent birds that are known to exist upon the earth, and, combined with the
most exquisite beauty of plumage, render this one of the most perfectly lovely of the many lovely productions
of nature. My transjiorts of admiration and delight quite amused my Aru hosts, who saw nothing more in
' liurong raja ' than we do in the liobin or Goldfinch. Thus one of my objects in eoniing to the far east was
accomplished. I had obtained a specimen of the King Bird of Paradise, which had been described by
Linnieus from skins ])rcserved 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 Eurojic.
The emotions excited in the mind of a naturalist who has long desired to see the actual thing which he has
hitherto known only by description, drawing, or badly preserved e.'iternal covering, especially when that
thing is of surpassing rarity and beauty, require the poetic fiiculty fully to express them. After the first
Kingbird was obtained, I went with my men into the forest; and we were not only rewarded with another
iu equally ])erfect plumage, but I was enabled to see a little of the habits of both it and the larger species.
It frequents the lower trees of the less dense forests, and is very active, flying strongly with a whirring sound,
and constantly ho])ping or flying from branch to branch. It eats hard stone-bearing fruits as large as a
gooseberry, and often flutters its wings after the manner of the Soutli-Ameriean Manakins, at which times it
elevates and ex])ands the beautiful fans with which its breast is adorned. The natives of Aru call it ' Gobygoby.'
"
Mr. Goodwin, who was the naturalist to Sir William Macgregor's ex])edition to Mount Owen Stanley,
writes :—"Af ter we had left the low country and had commenced our ascent, we met with the King Bird,
and secured several specimens on the first day. This was the first time I had the pleasure of seeing it
in all its beauty, for the legs, when the bird is alive, are of a beautifully clear cobalt-blue, but they become
black and shrivelled when the bird is dead. We did not meet with any more, and I do not think that
this magnificent little bird is found at a liigher altitude than 2000 feet above the sea-level, or far away
from the coast. It is a restless little body, and not easy to see or to secure. It feeds on berries and
seeds, which are jilentiful in that locality."
Baron von Kosenberg states that the cry of this species, which is often uttered, has much similarity to
the mewing of a kitten, and sounds like the word km, which is jironounced in a soft tone like that of a
flute.
The following descri]itions are copied from the pages of the ' Catalogue of Birds ' :—
"Adult male. General colour above brilliant metallic crimson, slightly orange under certain lights, and
more particularly so in the frontal plumes ; above the eye a spot of green velvety feathers, appearing black
in most lights ; sides of head and sides of neck crimson like the back ; entire throat and fore neck rich
]nn-jilish crimson, the lower feathers ti])])ed with orange-bulf, forming a band across the fore neck, followed
by a small ]iectoral band of rich metallic green, while from each side of the breast springs a tuft of long
pinnies, ashy brown in colour, ti|)j)ed with metallic green, each feather with a subterminal line of buff and
a second narrower one of reddish brown ; remainder of under surface, including the under wing- and under
tail-coverts pure white; scapulars and wings crimson, like the back; the quills orange-brown, externally
washed with eriuison, the innermost secondaries being entirely of the hitter colour ; tail ashy brown, the
feathers margi[ied with crimson or orauge-red, the whole tail hidden with the long tail-coverts; two centre
feathers elongated into a thread-like wire, with a curved disk of metallic green at the tip ; ' iris brown ;
bill yellowish horn-colour, becoming quite yellow in the dried skin, iu the female and young male brownish ;
legs and feet bright blue, somewhat duller in the female ; inside of month bright yellowish green ' {F. H. II.
Guillemari). Total length O'O inches, culmen 0'8, wing 375, tail 1-G, middle tail-feathers 6-5, tarsus M.
"Adult fanale. Dissimilar to the male. General colour above uniform brown, with a slight olive or golden
shade, more particularly on the head ; least and median wing-coverts uniform with the back ; greater coverts
and quills darker brown, externally washed with reddish orange; tail brown, with a slight golden gloss ;
loral ])lumes, feathers round the eye, sides of face, and throat dusky, varied with minute straw-coloured
mesial streaks ; rest of under surfiice pale fulvous, washed with golden bulf on the fore neck, all transversely
barred with dusky brown ; under wing-coverts and axillaries rufous obscurely barred with brown, the edge of
the wing golden orange. Total length 7'2 inches, wing 3-9, tail 2-5, tarsus 1-05.
" Young male. Similar to the adult female at first, but with a dull crimson shade on the wing. When the
crimson plumage of the adult is nearly comjilete the two central feathers of the tail are put on, the shafts
being feathered the whole way, and the ends of the feathers having the web entire and curved round.
From the excellent series in the British Museum it would appear that the curve is gradually continued upon
tlie feather itself, and that when the twist is comjilete the metallic green colour is assumed without a change
of feather. One young male before me has one racket brown, and the other metallic green."
CICINNURUS COCCINEIFRONS, rm.
Jobi-Island King- Bird of Paradise.
Cicmmns regias, auct. (ex Ins. Jobi).
Cicimmrus regius coccineifnns, Rothschild, Novit. Zool. ili. p. 10 (1890).
COUNT SALVADOKI seems to have been the first ornithologist to notice that the King Bird of Paradise from
the Island of Jobi differed somewhat from the true C. regius of the Aru Islands and New Guinea, the
dilferenees consisting iu the brighter red colour of the upper ]iarts, and in the fuller development of
the i>lumage at the base of the bill, which not oidy seemed to be shorter, but was remarkable for the way
in which the feathering extended forward over the base. He also noticed a further difference in the
colour of the light edging which separates the red colour of the neck from the green pectoral band, which
was slightly greyish in some, but not in all, of the Jobi specimens. Dr. A. B. Meyer and Dr. Guillemard
have also observed certain difl'ereuces in the Jobi birds; but the Hon. Walter Rothschild states that
the size of the supra-ocular spot and the violet tinge on the throat vary with individuals, and are
therefore of no consequence.
Mr. Rotlischild, however, separates the Jobi bird on account of its having the forehead of the same
crimson colour as the rest of the upper parts, instead of being yellow as in the birds from the Aru
Islands, and because the feathering at the base of the bill encroaches more on the culmcn. He finds
the characters constant in the series in the Tring Museum, from Mailu and Nicura in British New
Guinea, Simbang and Constantine Harbour in German New Guinea, from Arfiik, Salwatfi, Mysol, aud
the Aru Islands.
The yellow-fronted bird is undoubtedly the true Cicimmrus regius of Lirmasus, founded as this name is on
Edwards's figure; and therefore the crimson-fronted bird requires separation, though Mr. Rothschild
considers the Jobi form to be worthy of sub-specific rank only.
I find from an examination of the series in the British Museum that there is considerable variation with
respect to the amount of crimson tint on the frontal [)hnnes, as well as in the extent of the feathering over
the base of the bill ami the shape of the supra-ocular spot. The form ot the latter seems to me to be
dependent in great measure on the preparation of the skin. All the birds from the Aru Islands are large,
and have the forehead inclining to orange-yellow ; but this colour is less marked ii] a specimen from the
Fly River and is still less marked in others from Mjsol, which approach the crimson-fronted Jobi bird,
aud are apparently Intermediate between C. regius and C. mcdneifrmis. An example iu the Wallacc
collection from " New Guinea," ]ircsumahly from Dorei, also agrees with the Mysol bird, rather than with
those from Aru.
The following is a description of the type-specimen in Mr. Rothschild's museum :—
Similar to C. regius, but with a smaller hill; the frontal plumes encroaching further on the latter, and
being entirely of a rich crimson colour, like the crown and rest of the upper parts, which are of a very dark
tint like the throat; the dark spot above the eyes linear in shape and not rounded. Total length 0 inches,
cnlmen 0-G, wing 4, tail 1'4, longest feathers G, tarsus I'Oo.
It has been considered unnecessary to give a separate figure of this race.