The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

XXXVIII.] THE BIRDS OF PARADISE. 429was ricamed by Boddaert, Paradisea atra, from the black groundcolour of its plumage. It forms the genus Lophorina of Viellot,and is one of the rarest and most brilliant of the whole g;roup,being only known from mutilated native skins. This bird isa little larger than the Magnificent. The ground colour of theplumage is intense black, but with beautiful bronze reflectionson the neck, and the whole head scaled with feathers of brilliantmetallic green and blue. Over its breast it bears a shield formedof narrow and rather stiff feathers, much elongated towards tliesides, of a pure bluish-green colour, and with a satiny gloss. Buta still more extraordinary ornament is that which springs fromthe back of the neck—a shield of a similar form to that on thebreast, but much larger, and of a velvety black colour, glossedwith bronze and purple. The outermost feathers of this shieldTHE SUPERB BIRD OF PARADISE.(Lophoriiia atra.)are half an inch longer than the wing, and when it is elevatedit must, in conjunction with the breast shield, completely changethe form and whole appearance of the bird. The bill is black,and the feet appear to be yellow.This wonderful little bird inhabits the interior of the northernpeninsula of New Guinea only. Neither I nor Mr. Allen couldhear anything of it in any of the islands or on any part of thecoast. It is true that it was obtained from the coast-natives byLesson ; but when at Sorong in 1861, Mr. Allen learnt that it isonly found three days' journey in the interior. Owing to these" Black Birds of Paradise," as they are called, not being so muchvalued as articles of merchandise, they now seem to be rarelypreserved by the natives, and it thus happened that duringseveral years spent on the coasts of New Guinea and in the