Tpring a great quantity of feathers, with the webs fo loofe as to
appear like a herring-bone, fome of them near eighteen inches
in length; thefe are of different colours, fome cheftnut and
.purplifh, others yellowilh, and a few almoft white : from the
■ rump arife two feathers without webs, except for four inches
next the bafe, and the fame at .the tips; thefe appear to be the
two middle tail feathers, and are the fame colour as the reft of
the tail, the feathers of which are fix inches long, and even at
the ends : the legs are flout, and of a brown colour.
The female is faid to be like the male, except that the .long
wire-like feathers of the tail have the webs.fhorter. than thofe of
the male. They are faid to moult, and .he without their long
feathers for four months in the year.
Thefe birds are found in the Molucta iflands, and thofe fu r-■
rounding New Guinea, .particularly in..the ifle , of flroi the ^»8-
boynans call them Manu-key-cucqb; the natives o f Terpate, Byrong-
papua, or Papua Birds ; altoiManilca-dewaia, and Sofftt or Siofftu
A t Aroo they are called Fanaan. They are fuppofed to breed in
New Guinea, coming from thence into Aroo at the wefterly or dry
monfloon-, and are.found there during the continuance of it; returnin
g to New Guinea .when the.eafterly or.wet monfeon fets in. They
are feen going and returning, in flights of thirty or forty, led by.a
king, which is conftantly feen to fly higher than the reft : during
this flight, they cry like Starlings.. They are obferved to take the
advantage of. flying againft the .wind, when it blows only moderate;
but when in diftrefs, from the fhifting of the wind, or,blowing
too ftfong, Croak like .Ravens. Sometimes, by the fhifting o
the winds, their long fcapular feathers, are dilhevelled, which
quite hinders their flight; in that cafe, are loft in the water, or fall
on the ground; which if they do, they cannot rife again.,without
i gaining
gaining an eminence: in this ftate, they are watched by the natives,
who fecure many, and kill them on the fpot, as they cannot
be kept alive by art; and the traffic in thefe birds is one part of
their trade.— They are likewife taken with birdlime *, when they
fettle in trees, or foot with blunt arrows. They are. fold at
Banda, and its neighbourhood, for half a rixdollar' apiece ; but
the people of Aroo are content with a fpike-nail for each.
The true food of thefe birds is not certain, fince the accounts
given by authors differ widely: fome fay, that they feed on the
red berries of the Waringa Tree f ; others, that they are fond of
eating Nutmegs £ ; fome, that their food is large Butterflies % ■,
and others aver, that they chafe /mail Bird's J '; which laft circum-
ftance is not improbable, as their legs and bills are fufficiently
ftout; and they are known to defend themfelves courageoufly,
whenever they aretaken alive. :
Thefe biids were formerly brought into Europe without legs,
and not a few were perfuaded that thfey never had any; but the
truth rs, .merely, that the’legs are ufelefs for the purpofes defigned
by the natives, and are therefore torn off on the fpot, and thrown
atide It is for ornament only, that thefe birds are coveted by
“ fher lnhabitants of the Eaft as are able to purchafe them,
the Chefs of the country rearing them conftantly in their turbans;'
and ttie-Grandees of Perfla, Surat, and the Eaft Indies, ufe them
as aigrettes, and even adorn their horfes with them.
I h q the jaice of g # ? * 3 8 i f c , .
t Tawnier, vol. ii. p .ju .
ei L T r •, UngU‘bUS incurv*s & peracutis parvas Aviculas, Chlorides F rin .
reliqua: rapaces aves devorent.'*
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