In the last edition of the 'Systeme Nature;' Linnaeus gives but two species of the Birds of Paradise, to which he applies the generic name, Paradisea. These two species are Paradisea apoda and Paradisea regia. In Gmelin'a edition the number of species is increased to eight, but one of them is the Paradise-Grakle.
Ornithologists seem to agice in placing these birds either among the Crows (Corridce) or in their immediate neighbourhood ; and this, from the form of their beak and legs, and from their habits, to which we shall presently allude, appears to be their proper place.
Vieillot has divided the Linnman genus Paradisea into the following genera: Parotic.—Beak furnished with short feathers to just beyond the middle, slender, compressed laterally, notched and curved at the tip ; hypochondria' plumes long, broad, and loose, Of this germ; Parotia se.rsetacea (Paradises aurea of Ginelin, Para dise° se-rsetacen of Latham, the Sifilet of Buffon) is an exempla The figure represents a male.
the originals, though the former had the advantage of the pencil of Barraband, whose drawings have all the life and truth of portreita. To these works, and such as these, and to our museums, those who wish to have a distinct notion of what nature can produce In form and brilliancy of plumage must repair. They are all inhabitants of New Guinea.
lopkorina—Beak furbished with elongated feathers to just beyond the middle, narrow above, slender, straight, notched, and bent at the tip; feathers of the neck long and disposed in a wing•form. Of this genus, Lophorina superba (Paradisea aoperba of Latham, Le Superbe of Buffon) is an example.
Oue of the best accounts we have of the living habits of these birds is given by M. Lesson, who, though he deeply laments his short stay at New Guinea (only 13 days), appears to have made the best use of his time.
Cincinnuras.—Beak furnished at the base with small feathers directed forwards, slender, convex above, a little compressed at the sides, finely jagged and bent towards the tip; hypochondrial feathers broad, elon gated, and truncated.
Of this genus, Ciscien eras regius (Parculisea regia of Linn:cue, King Bird of Paradise of l'etiver, who has this noto—" Brought from the Molucca Islands, and rarely to be seen hero but in the cabinets of the most curious, as with Dr. Sloan, and in the repository of the Royal
Society"--and Le 31anucode of Buffett) is given as an example. The figure represents a male.
Soma/ie.—Beak robust, convex above, furnished at the base with velvet feathers, straight, compressed laterally, jagged towards the tip ; hypochondria] feathers very long, flexible, decomposed, or cervical 1dumcs moderate and stiff. Of this there are two sections, the type being l'aradisea magnifica of Latham (Le Magnifique of Butfon).
But perhaps the most elegant of all these birds is that which is best known and most often seen, the Great Emerald, Le grand Ememude of the French (l'aradisca apoda of Linmetts).
The cute, which are taken from Levaillant, may convey some very faint idea of the forms of there birds, whose beauty beggars all des cription. Even the magnificent works of Levaillant and Vieillot, splendid as they are, cannot rejiruscut the vivid and changing tints of " The Birds of Paradise," says M. Lesson, "or at least the Emerald (Paradises apoda, Linn.), the only species concerning which we possess authentic intelligence, live in troops in the met forests of the country of the Papuans, a group of islands situated under the equator, and which is composed of the islands Arou, Wagiou, and the groat island called New Guinea. They are birds of passage, changing their quarters according to the monsoons. The females congregate in troops, assemble upon the tops of the highest trees in the forests, and all cry together to call the males. These last are always alone in the midst of some fifteen females, which compose their seraglio, after the manner of the gain/lemons bird's" M. Lesson then gives the following extract from his journal, written on the spot. After observing that the Birds of Paradise, with tho exception of two species, were brought to the corvette, La Coquille, by the Papuans, and that the quantity afforded reason for supposing that these birds, so esteemed in Europe, were singularly multiplied in those countries, he thus continues:— "The Manucode* presented itself twice in our shooting excursions, and we killed the male and female. This species would seem to be monogamous, or perhaps it is only separated into pairs at the period , .