RIF A 4 \ ON ee Neg os

 

oe) z . : : are .
f the highest trees, as Dr Wallace observed in the other species, and as I also remarked in ny former
or the ug ’ .

expedition.”

Mr. A. P. Goodwin, who accompanied the
ciand) was found on the lower ranges of the mountains, and is rarely ever seen above an altitude of
rage é ‘

3000 feet. One evening I observed a number of this species flying from one tree to another, evidently
Lam told is their habit. P. raggiana lives on fruit, which generally grows on high

Macgregor Expedition, says: “ Raggi’s Paradise-bird (Paradisea

feeding and dancing, as , : Leck Gate thenal ]
See ee “ne r « Cc SK c i f° C fi
trees in Papua; and as nature has provided these birds with a thick skin to keep their long plumage from

falling out, it requires a strong charge of shot to bring ne to the ground. It is to be regretted that
the long red plumes soon lose their brightness after death. .

The following note is taken from Messrs. Chalmers and Wyatt's HCO aL ies in New elites Dine
morning we had camped on a spur of the Owen Stanley Hane and being up early, to enjoy the cool
atmosphere, I saw on one of the clumps of trees close by six Birds 2 IRN SE, four BEES and two hens.
The hens were sitting quietly on a branch, and the four cocks, dressed in their very best, their ruffs of green
and yellow standing out, giving them a large handsome appearance about the head and neck, their long
flowing plumes so arranged that every feather seemed combed out, 7 the long wires stretched well out
nated were dancing in a circle round them. It was an interesting sight; first one then another would
advance a little nearer to a hen, and she, coquette-like, would retire a little, pretending not to care for any
advances. A shot was fired, contrary to my expressed wish; there was a strange commotion, and two of the
cocks flew away, the others and the hens remained. Soon the two returned, and again the dance began and
continued long. As I had strictly forbidden any more shooting, all fear was gone ; and so, after a rest, the
males came a little nearer to the dark brown and certainly not pretty hens. Quarrelling ensued and in the
end all six birds flew away.

«Passing through a forest at the back of the Astrolabe, I saw several more engaged as above; our
approach startled them, and away they flew.

«« Anxious to taste the flesh, I had one cooked after being skinned; but, although boiled for several hours,
it was as tough as leather, and the soup not much to our taste. Fortunately we had other things for dinner,
so put the paradise-dish aside.”

Mr. Philip Crowley possesses an egg of this Bird of Paradise, procured by Mr. Goldie in South-eastern
New Guinea. It is of the usual type of the eggs of Paradisea, and similar to those of P. apoda figured by
Dr. A. B. Meyer (Zeitschr. ges. Orn. i. Taf. xvii. fig. 2). Mr. Goldie supplied the following note to
Mr. Crowley :—* This bird inhabits the entire length of British New Guinea towards the east, being often
found close to the sea-coast. In the Australian Flora district, around Port Moresby, it is more retired, not
being found under 1500 feet elevation, probably from not meeting with its ordinary food, as it is very dry in
this district at one season of the year. They are most abundant at an elevation of from 2000 to 3000 feet
above the sea, but above that altitude are rarely found. In the morning they congregate in the very tallest
and largest trees of the district, selecting certain ones about half a mile apart, and here they disport
themselves, dancing and strutting with outstretched plumes till about 8 a.m., when they leave to feed. All
day they continue to shout, but do not keep in flocks. They return to the same trees an hour or two
before sunset, and continue dancing and shouting often till quite dark.

“The ornamental plumage is assumed about the end of April or in May, and is retained for six or seven
months. The nesting-season is in June and July. I think that the reason the nests have not been got
before was owing to the mistaken idea that the bird nested in very high trees, such as those in which they
assemble, but the truth is that they mostly build in shrubs at about fifteen or twenty feet above the ground.

‘There was only one ege in the nest, and this, so the natives say, is almost invariably the case, though
sometimes two, and on very rare occasions three, eggs are found. I discovered several nests with one young
bird in each.”

The following descriptions are taken from my ‘ Catalogue of Birds ’ :—

Adult male. Head and neck all round straw-buff, the feathers close-set and of a velvety texture; a frontal
band and cheeks, ear-coverts, and throat, bright metallic green, the feathers velvety to the touch, this green
patch leaving a narrow band of straw-buff plumes across the lower throat ; forehead appearing black in
certain lights; chin velvety greenish black, contrasting with the throat; entire back ruddy chestnut-brown,
the wings slightly paler than the back and not so glossy, the shafts of the quills bright reddish, the least wing-
coverts broadly edged with straw-buff; tail ruddy brown, with red shafts like the quills, the two centre feathers