PARADISIIIXE, a family of birds very closely allied to the crow family (corddee). These birds are particularly numerous in the island of New Guinea, but also inhabit other islands of the eastern archipelago. They are by common reputation the most beautiful of all birds, especially in regard to their plumage. Fiction has had muchto do with them. Among other traditions is one which credits them with passing their entire existence floating about in the air, "gay creatures of the element" in which they were supposed to raise their young. Their food was said to be the dews and vapors, a sort of heavenly ambrosia and nectar. They were supposed never to touch the earth till the moment of their death, except that sometimes they suspended themselves from , the branches of trees by the two elongated and gracefully curved feathers which are appended to the tails of some of the species. Tlds delusion was kept up by the Papuans, who sold the skins, but in preparing them removed all traces of the feet or lower parts of the legs, and in most instances the wings also. Their skins were not only valued for their gorgeous beauty, but eastern princes prized them for turbans, believing that they conferred a charmed life on the wearer. The earliest European navigators who sailed to the Molucca islands for spices, obtained the dried skins of the birds of paradise which were called by the natives manuk dewata, or God's birds. John van Linschoten in 159'5 wrote that no one had seen the birds alive, "for they lived in the air, always turning towards the sun, and never alighting till their death," saying, moreover, that they have neither feet or wings. It was a long time before the assertions of sensible observers and naturalists would be credited that birds of paradise had legs. Johnston, in 1657, writes of them: "It is peculiar to them all to be without feet, although Aristotle asserts that no bird is without feet, and Pigafetta assigns to them feet a hand breadth in length." This was written after Clusius had exposed the popular absurdity, and after the skins or the birds had been brought to Holland with their feet on, and after the publication of Tradescant's catalogue, wherein are mentioned among the sokole birds of his museum. "Birds of Paradise, or Manucodiata, whereof are divers sorts, some with, some without ]eggs." Johnston, however, discredits the stories about their never alighting, and living on dew, and that their eggs are hatched in a cavity on the back of the male. "Of a verity," says he, " they must necessarily require rest, and are with ease suspended to the branches of trees by those threads in their tails." Formerly, many artificial " birds of paradise" were made up by the Chinese, from parrots and other birds of brilliant plumage and palmed-off on Europeans, as genuine, and such imitations have been figured hi hooks of natural history. The great bird of paradise (paradisca apoda of Linnaeus) the largest Species, and measures 17 or 18 in. from the beak to the tip of the tail. Its body, wings, and tikil are of a rich coffee brown, deepening on the breast to a very dark violet purple. The plumage of the head and neck is of the most beautiful and delicate straw color, the feathers so short and close as to resemble velvet. The lower part of the throat is of a metallic emerald, and lines extend up to the eyes and across the forehead of a deeper color. The beak is of a delicate leaden blue, and the feet, which are strong and finely formed, are of a delicate ash pink, approaching a mauve. A tuft of long, gorgeous, glossy, orange-colored plumes, often 2 ft. long, arises from each side of the body under the wings. The bird has the power of erecting these tufts of plumage so es to conceal its entire body. These ornaments are generally possessed only by the males, the female being soberly clad in a suit of unchangeable coffee brown; neither has she the slender thread-like tail plumes, nor the yellow and green feathers about the head. ing the first year the young males resemble the females. The first approach to deco ration is'in the appearance on the head neck of the yellow and green plumage: then the two middle tail feathers commence to grow longer than the rest, and lastly the gorgeous, golden, orange-colored side-plumage is developed. This wonderful evolu tion is accomplished during three successive moltings. The great bird of paradise is described by Mr.Wallace as very active and vigorous, being all day in constant motion. They are also very abundant, and broods of young birds with their mothers are constantly met with. The full-plumed males are also quite numerous, and their cry, week, week, which maybe regarded as the inverted cry of the common crow, caw, caw, is perhaps the most familiar sound in the Ant islands. The natives told Mr. Wallace that they had never seen the egg, and their accounts of the nests were rather unsatisfactory. On one occa sion a Dutch official offered high reward for au egg, but did not succeed in obtaining one. The birds molt in January and February; and in May, when they have received their full plumage the males assemble for the annual dance, or sdcaleli. They congregate in trees with large spreading branches, but with scattered leaves to allow room for the play of their plumage. A dozen or more assemble in one tree and perform in an excited
manner the most varied 2volutions, stretching their necks, vibrating their wings and all the feathers of the body. They tkiso fly from one branch to another, filling the air with reflections of the most gorgeous rainbow colors. It is during this season that the natives take the opportunity of shooting them with the bow and arrow, the head of the arrow being blunt so as only to stun the bird and not to injure its skin or plumage. The lesser bird of paradise is smaller, of lighter brown color, and is not purple on the breast. The yellow color extends over part of the back and upon the wings, and the side plumes are of a much paler yellow than those of the great bird, the ends tipped with white. The curled tail feathers are also shorter. The female is entirely white on the under surface of the body, and is a more showy bird than the female of the great bird species. The red bird of paradise is about 14 in. long from beak to tip of tail. Its side plumes are a splen did crimson, the ends reaching but about 4 in. beyond the tail, curving downward and inward, and tipped with white. The two middle tail feathers are in the form of stiff black ribbons a quarter of an inch in width, resembling half-cylinders of whalebone. They are about .`22 in. long and have a spiral, graceful curve as they hang downward in their natural position. A splendid metallic green line passes from the throat along the side of the neck, meeting and forming a longitudinal line on the back of the head, pass ing forward to just behind the eyes, and forming a double crest upon the forehead. Time hill is a rich yellow, and the iris blackish olive, The body of the female is of a nearly uniform coffee brown, with a nearly black head and yellow neck and shoulders. The red bird of paradise is entirely confined to the small island of Waigiou, on the 11.W. coast of New Guinea. The three birds thus far described are distinguished from the others by their larger size, and by their hieing each confined to its own region; that is, each of the three keep separate from the other two. To these strictly belong, according to Mr.Wal lace, the generic title paredisea, or true bird of paradise. The king bird of paradise (the paradisea reqia of Linnmus), differs considerably from the three true birds of paradise, and has been called cicinneres regius. The Malays call it burang ra,(111, or king bird, and the Aru islanders, It is only about 64 in. long, owingmuch to the short tail. which does not reach farlieyond the wings. The whole head, throat, and back, are of the most splendid crimson' color, shading to orange crimson on the forehead, from which the feathers extend more than half way down the beak. The breast and belly arc of a pure white, separated from the crimson throat by a broad band of the richest metallic green; while above each eye there is a small spot of the same color. The side plumes are about and inch and a long, of an ashy hue, tipptad with emerald, and bordered with a nar row line of buff. These tufts are ordinarily covered by the wings, but at will can be spread out so as to form a beautiful semi circular fan over each shoulder. The most sincrular ornaments, however, belonging to this bird are the two central tail feathers which are nearly th in. long, thread-like, and bearing a coiled disk at their extremities of an emerald green. The bill is Orange yellow, and the legs a beautiful cobalt blne. The femah is so plain that it would not be regarded as belonging to the same species. unless its habits were watched. The " magnifitent bird of paradise," the diphyllodeg of prince Bonaparte, so named from the double mantle which clothes the back, is one of the rare birds. From the nape a dense mass of feathers, about 1 in. long, and of a beautiful etraw color, rises to form a mantle over the upper part of the hack. This species is only found on the mainland of New Guinea and on the island of Mysol. The "superb bird of paradise," first described by Buffon, and named by Broddaert, paraclica atra, has very dark plumage, and is one of the rarest and most brilliant, only known by the. muti lated skins sold by the natives. The ground color of the plumage is of an intense black, but the various bronze and other metallic reflections over various parts of the neck and body are especially superb. The whole head is covered with feathers of a brilliant metallic green and blue. It has a mantle similar to that of the "magnificent," only broader and more wing-like, of a velvety black, resplendent with bronze and purple. On the breast there is also a similar shield, but inverted in position, of a bluish green, and satin gloss. It inhabits the interior of northern New Guinea only. Mr. Wallace gives a list of 18 species, 8 of which are confined to the island of New Guinea, and the scarcely separated island of Salwatty. Gee BIRD or PARADISE, ante.
name for an intercepting mound, erected in various parts of a fortification for the purpose of protecting the defenders from arear or fire. Sec FounFicamoN.