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

432 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [chap.with green. This is the only Paradise Bird yet found in theMoluccan district, all the others being confined to the PapuanIslands and North Australia.We now come to the Epimachidfe, or Long-billed Birds ofParadise, which, as befoi"e stated, ought not to be separated fromthe Paradiseidse by the intervention of any other birds. One ofthe most remarkable of these is the Twelve-wired Paradise Bird,Paradisea alba of Blumenbach, but now placed in the genusSeleucides of Lesson.This bird is about twelve inches long, of which the compressedand curved beak occupies two inches. The colour of the breastand upper surface appears at first sight nearly black, but a closeexamination shows that no part of it is devoid of colour ; andby holding it in various lights, the most rich and glowing tintsbecome visible. The head, covered with short velvety feathers,which advance on the chin much further than on the upper partof the beak, is of a purplisli bronze colour ;the whole of theback and shoulders is rich bronzy green, while the closed wingsand tail are of the most brilliant violet pui^ple, all the plumageha^dng a delicate silky gloss. The mass of feathers which coverthe breast is really almost black, vnth faint glosses of green andpurple, but their outer edges are margined with glittering bandsof emerald green. The whole lower part of the body is richbuffy 3"el]ow, including the tuft of plumes which spring fromthe sides, and extend an inch and a half beyond the tail. Whenskins are exposed to the light tlie yellow fades into dull w^hite,from which circumstance it derived its specific name. Aboutsix of the innermost of these plumes on each side have themidrib elongated into slender black wires, which bend at rightangles, and curve somewhat backwards to a length of about teninches, forming one of those extraordinary and fantastic oi'namentswith which this group of birds abounds. The bill is jetblack, and the feet bright yellow. (See lower figure on the plateat tlie beginning of this chapter.)The female, although not quite so plain a bird as in some otherspecies, presents none of the gay colours or ornamental plumageof the male. The top of the head and back of the neck are black,the rest of the upper parts rich reddish brown ; while the undersurface is entirely yellowish ashy, somewhat blackish on thebreast, and crossed throughout with narrow blackish wavybands.Tlie Seleucides alba is found in the island of Salwatty, and intlie north-western parts of New Guinea, where it frequentsllowering ti-ees, especially sago-palms and pandani, sucking theflowers, round and beneath which its unusually large andpowerful feet enable it to cling. Its motions ai-e very rapid.It seldom rests more than a few moments on one tree, afterwhich it flies sti'aight ofi", and with great swiftness, to anotlier.It has a loud slirill cry, to be heard a long way, consisting of" Cah, cah," repeated five or six times in a descending scale, and