Bar-tailed Comet is. Attend, then, while I describe his ball-dress, more
lustrous than any fair lady ever wore at Almack's. The head, neck, upper
part of the back, and a considerable portion of the under surface, are
light green, with reflections of burnished gold on the cheeks and
forehead. The lower back is of a deep crimson. The throat flames like an
emerald. The tail is the chief feature, the feathers being broad, and
greatly lengthened, in regular graduation from the central ones to the
outmost pair, which are double the length of the entire bird besides.
The form of the tail is widely forked, its outline having a double
curve, somewhat lyre-shaped. The tail-coverts are ruddy brown; and the
feathers themselves are of the richest and most glowing fire-colour,
incomparably lustrous; each feather being broadly tipped with velvety
black. The graduation of the feathers throws these terminal black tips
to a considerable distance from each other, and their alternation with
the intermediate spaces of the fiery glow has an inconceivably charming
effect, as the bird makes its rapid evolutions through the air, and
whisks about among the flowers, with a velocity which the eye of the
beholder can scarcely follow. It is very fond of certain long
trumpet-shaped pendent blossoms, into which it penetrates so far, that
nothing of it can be seen except the tips of its radiant forked tail
projecting from the tube.
Another family of birds that is conspicuous for gorgeous beauty is that
of the Pheasants. Our own familiar species, which is said to have been
brought long ages ago from the banks of the Phasis in Colchis, by Jason
in the Argo,--
"Argiva primum sum transportata carina,"[209]--
is a very splendid bird, and is well painted in a few lines by
Pope;--who speaks of his
"Glossy varying dyes,
His purple crest and scarlet-circled eyes;
The vivid green his shining plumes unfold,
His painted wings, and breast that flames with gold."[210]
But besides this, there are Indian and Chinese species which excel it in
glory. There are the richly-pencilled Gold and Silver Pheasants, and the
noble Reeves' and Amherst Pheasants, with their extraordinary
long-barred tail plumes. The last named is a bird of unusual
magnificence.
Then there is the splendid Fire-back of Sumatra and Java, which is
adorned with a crest of slender stalked feathers, each expanding into a
disk with spreading barbs. The head, neck, breast, and belly of this
rare bird are of deep steel-blue, very lustrous, the lower part of the
back fiery orange-red or flame-colour, varying in intensity according to
the incidence of the light, and passing like a zone of fire round the
body, though less brilliant on the abdomen; the rump and tail-coverts
broad and truncate, bluish-green, each feather tipped by a paler bar.
The tail is erect and arched, somewhat like that of the common cock,
its middle feathers are pure white, and all the rest black, with green
reflections. The legs and feet, which are scarlet, and the skin of the
face, purple, complete the toilet of this magnificent oriental.
What shall we say to the Argus Pheasant, the bird of Malacca with the
magnificent pinions? How fine a sight must it be to see this noble fowl
displaying his coxcombery in the presence of his admiring hens,
strutting to and fro with his long tail feathers spread and erected, and
his broad wings expanded and scraping the ground far on each side! The
colours, it is true, are sober browns, varied with black and white; but
how exquisitely are these arranged! Perhaps no brilliancy of tint would
more charm the eye than the row of ocellated spots,--each a dark
circular disk surrounded by concentric circles,--that runs along the
centre of each of the enormously-developed secondary wing-quills.
To come back to colour and metallic refulgence. We must not overlook the
Monal, or Scaly Impeyan of the Himalaya chain. This fowl, which is
little less than a turkey, looks as if clothed in scale armour of
iridescent metal, of which the specific hues can scarcely be indicated,
so changeable are they; green, steel-blue, crimson, purple, and
golden-bronze,--all of the utmost intensity of colour, and of dazzling
refulgence, adorn this bird, set off by a broad square patch of pure
white in the middle of the back, while the crown of the head carries a
drooping crest of naked-shafted, broad-tipped, green feathers. This
splendid fowl is as hardy as the turkey or pheasant, and will probably
before long be domesticated in British preserves, to which it would be a
noble addition, being perhaps exceeded by nothing in nature for
refulgence.
In the same regions are found the Polyplectrons, or Pheasant Peacocks,
birds of the same family. Look at one of these in detail, the Crested
Polyplectron of the Sunda Isles. It much resembles a peacock in contour,
the head and neck black, with steely reflections, relieved by a long
stripe of white arching over each eye, and a broad patch of the same on
the ears. The forehead and crown carry a crest of tall feathers capable
of erection, and making a fine ornament. The whole under parts are
velvet black; the back and rump warm brown, with paler wavy bands and
lines. The coverts and secondary feathers of the wings are of the
richest blue, each feather tipped with velvety black. But the tail is
the grand display. It is a true tail, not a train of superincumbent
feathers as in the peacock, the quill-feathers being of great length and
breadth, and the whole capable of being widely expanded into an enormous
rounded fan. The individual feathers are brown, pencilled and sprinkled
with pale buff,--a pretty ground, on each of which is painted two large
oval eye-spots of the most brilliant metallic blue or green, according
to the light, contained within encircling double rings of black and
white. These refulgent eyes are so set that they constitute two curved
bands placed at some distance apart, running across the tail, and when
this organ is expanded they impart to it a most regal appearance.
Last, but not least, in this distinguished tribe, there is the familiar
Peacock, a proverb of splendour in raiment from the remote antiquity of
Aristophanes and Aristotle to Mr Hollingshead, who lashes the sumptuary
tendencies of our modern ladies under the title of "Peacockism."[211]
The true Peacock, however, the genuine bird, may at least plead that no
milliners' bills of L3000 are ever proved against him in Bankruptcy
Courts.
I am not going to be so impertinent as to describe in detail the plumage
of a bird so well known as the Peacock. Who does not know his empurpled
neck so elegantly bridled, his aigrette of four-and-twenty
battledore-feathers, his pencilled body-clothing, and, above all, his
grand erectile train with its rows of eyelets? Who has not admired the
lustre and beauty of those eyelets,--the kidney-like nucleus of deepest
purple, the surrounding band of green, widening in front and filling the
notch of the pupil, the broad circle of brown, and the narrow black ring
edged with chestnut, and then the decomposed barbs of the feather,
gilded green, all presenting the effulgence of burnished metal, or
rather the glitter and glow of precious gems, flashing in the varying
light? One can hardly imagine the splendour of the scene described by
Colonel Williamson, as seen by him in the Jungleterry District in India,
when, being engaged shooting these beautiful fowl, he estimates that not
fewer than twelve or fifteen hundred Peafowl of various sizes were
within sight of him for nearly an hour. "Whole woods were covered with
their beautiful plumage, to which the rising sun imparted additional
brilliancy. Small patches of plain among the long grass, most of them
cultivated, and with mustard then in bloom, which induced the birds to
feed, increased the beauty of the scene."
In the preceding volume I have spoken of the gorgeous beauty of the
Birds of Paradise, and have quoted the description given by Lesson of
his rapt feelings when, on first seeing a specimen in the forests of
Papua, he could not shoot from emotion. A chapter on animal beauty
cannot pass over this magnificent family, though to my own taste there
is something in the refulgent radiance of the Humming-birds and
Pheasants which is superior to anything seen in the Paradise-birds. The
latter, or some of them at least, give me the idea of being
over-dressed, particularly that one called the Superb, whose singular
forked gorget and shoulder-cape, gorgeous as these adornments are, with
their lustrous violet and green flushes, are somewhat inelegant in form.
Yet some of them are softly beautiful;--
"So richly deck'd in variegated down,
Green, sable, shining yellow, shading brown,
Tints softly with each other blended,
Hues doubtfully begun and ended;
Or intershooting, and to sight
Lost and recover'd, as the rays of light
Glance in the conscious plumes touch'd here and there.
* * * * *
"This the Sun's Bird, whom Glendoveers might own,
As no unworthy partner in their flight
Through seas of ether, where the ruffling sway
Of nether air's rude billows is unknown:
Whom sylphs, if e'er for casual pastime they
Through India's spicy regions wing their way,
Might bow to as their lord."[212]
[Illustration: PEACOCK-SHOOTING.]
The Emerald Paradise, the best known of the family, seems to have been
in the poet's eye; and certainly the combination of form and colour in
this species is very charming. The rich chocolate of the upper parts,
and the delicate lemon-yellow of the neck, contrast well with the
gemmeous green lustre of the front, when the velvety plumage flashes and
gleams in the sunlight. And the numerous soft floating plumes that arch
out from the flanks to a great distance on all sides are exquisite in
loveliness. "Even in the absolute quiet of a stuffed skin under a glass
case," as Mr Wood remarks, "these plumes are full of astonishing beauty,
their translucent golden-white vanelets producing a most superb effect
as they cross and recross each other, forming every imaginable shade of
white, gold and orange, and then deepening towards their extremities
into a soft purplish red."
Mr G. Bennett, who saw a living specimen in an aviary at Macao,
describes these long, elegant, loose-barbed plumes as occupying a good
deal of the bird's own attention and care. "One of the best
opportunities of seeing this splendid bird in all its beauty of action
as well as display of plumage, is early in the morning, when he makes
his toilet: the beautiful sub-alar plumage is then thrown out and
cleaned from any spot that may sully its purity, by being passed gently
through the bill; the short chocolate wings are extended to the utmost,
and he keeps them in a steady flapping motion as if in imitation of
their use in flight, at the same time raising up the delicate long
feathers over the back, which are spread in a chaste and elegant manner,
floating like films in the ambient air. In this position the bird would
remain for a short time, seemingly proud of its heavenly beauty, and in
raptures of delight with its most enchanting self; it would then assume
various attitudes, so as to regard its plumage in every direction."[213]
Passing over all other classes of animate existence, I shall say a few
words on the surpassing loveliness which is displayed by many of the
Insect tribes. The nursery prejudice, that these creatures are worthy
only to be trodden under foot, as things repulsive and disgusting, is
certainly decaying, though it retains its hold still in some minds. A
glance through an entomological cabinet would prove how unjust are such
notions. If brilliant hues, polished surface, sculptured chasings,
graceful forms, and lively motions can command admiration, these are
displayed by Insects to a degree which we should in vain look for in any
other class of creatures. We need not speak of simple colours; these
occur in profusion, of all hues, of all shades of intensity, and of the
very highest degrees of brightness; combined too, in the most elegant
manner, and very frequently, particularly in the _Lepidoptera_,
presenting that peculiar charm which results from the association of
tints that are complemental to each other.
Words are always felt to be too poor to describe the refulgence of the
hues of many of the feathered tribes;--the metallic gloss of the Trogons
and the oriental _Gallinaceae_, the gem-like flashings of the
Humming-birds and the Birds of Paradise. Perhaps it would be deemed
extravagant to assert, that these glories can be _excelled_ by the tiny
races I am now discussing; but equalled, _most fully equalled_, they
assuredly are. To possess the glow of burnished metal upon the most
varied hues, is, in the order _Coleoptera_, a common thing. Most of the
_Eumolpidae_ are remarkable for this; of which I may instance _Chrysochus
fulgidus_, a beetle from Bombay. The _Buprestidae_ have long been
celebrated, for the same reason; and portions of their bodies have been
used in the toilet of ladies, in association with diamonds and rubies.
Many of the _Chlamydae_ blaze with golden-crimson, purple, and the most
fiery orange. The species of the small genus _Eurhinus_ seem to send
forth the coloured flames of the pyrotechnic art. The _Longicornes_
display the same beauties, associated with gigantic size. _Cheloderus
Childreni_, for example, a large beetle from Columbia, is equal to any
_Buprestis_ for the radiance of the green, crimson, purple, blue,
scarlet, and gold, that are all at the same time flaming from its
singularly-sculptured surface.
But there are impressions conveyed by the reflection of light from the
bodies of many beetles, which far exceed the metallic fulgor of which I
have been speaking, beautiful as it is. I cannot hope to describe them
intelligibly; I know of no combination of words which will give an idea
of them. I mean the soft, almost velvety radiance of some of the
_Goliathi_; of many of the _Cetoniae_, as the genus _Eudicella_, for
instance; and of not a few of the _Phanaei_, in the former two, the hue
is generally green; in the latter, this colour is associated with other
hues, most glowing, yet of an indescribable softness. I cannot imagine
anything of this sort more charming than the soft golden and orange hue
upon the green of the magnificent _Phanaeus imperialis_.
Others again, as _Hoplia farinosa_, a little chafer from Southern
Europe, and many of the weevil tribe (_Curculionidae_), are covered with
scales of vivid splendour, but so minute, and so closely set, that the
whole surface reflects one soft but rich lustre of tints, differing
according to the species. We would instance, of these, the noble species
of the genus _Cyphus_. Others of the same great family, on a dark but
still richly-coloured ground, have the minute scales clustered in spots
or bands, forming regular patterns in much variety; and in these they
reflect rainbow hues, as if a sunbeam decomposed through a prism had
been solidified and pulverised; or if viewed through a lens, looking
like powdered gems, each individual scale changing its hues with the
slightest motion of the eye. Among these we may mention _Hypsonotus
elegans_, _Cyphus spectabilis_, _Entimus splendidus_, and _E.
imperialis_, commonly known as diamond beetles; and the elegantly-shaped
genus _Pachyrhynchus_, of which the _P._ _gemmatus_, from the
Philippine Islands, is, perhaps, the most lovely of all earthly
creatures.
And if we look at the _Lepidoptera_, the order more especially under
review, we feel that beauty belongs to them rather as an essence than as
an accident. Their broad fan-like wings have an airy lightness and grace
to which the painter and the poet pay homage, when they endow the sylphs
and loves of their fancy with butterfly pinions.
They are clothed with minute scales, which are the vehicle of their
colours, somewhat resembling in this respect the beetles last spoken of;
but they have beauties peculiar to themselves. Fine combinations and
contrasts of colours are too much the rule in this order to need
specification; and these are often shaded and blended with a downy
softness, as in the Sphinges and Moths. As illustrious examples, I will
mention the _Gynautocera_, a group of Oriental Moths approaching in some
points the Butterflies, as exhibiting the most brilliant hues in bands
and clouds, but softly blended and mingled, with exceeding chasteness
and beauty.
Many species of the genus _Catagramma_, a group of Butterflies marked on
the inferior surface of the fore-wings with scarlet and black, and on
that of the hind with singular concentric circles of black on a white
ground, have on the superior surface the metallic lustre common in the
beetles, the wings being of golden green or blue. The genus _Urania_ has
this radiance still more conspicuous; while the inferior surface of some
of the _Theclae_, as _T. imperialis_, _T. Actaeon_, _T. Endymion_, &c., is
covered with the most rich and varied metallic hues, as if powdered
with gold, copper, and silver filings. Some Butterflies, as several of
our native _Fritillaries_, and more vividly an American species,
(_Argynnis passiflorae_,) one from New Zealand, (_Argyrophenga
antipodum_,) and the beautiful _Paphia Clytemnestra_, have spots of
burnished silver on their inferior surface; and several of our own
moths, as the genus _Plusia_, are so spotted on the upper surface.
Others display a lustre between that of silver and that of pearl, as
several species of _Charaxes_ on one, and the magnificent _Morpho
Laertes_ on both surfaces. But of this sort of beauty, perhaps nothing
can excel the gemmeous green, changing to azure, of _Papilio Ulysses_,
or that of _Apatura (?) laurentia_; or, above all, of some of the great
Brazilian _Morphos_. The blaze of silvery azure that flashes from _M.
Adonis_, _M. Cytheris_, and _M. Menelaus_, is indescribable; the eyes
are pained as they gaze upon it; yet there is said to be an unnamed
species from the emerald mountains of Bogota, of which a single specimen
is in a private cabinet in London, which is far more lustrous than
these.
The change from one hue to another produced by the play of light in
altering the angle of its reflection, has always been much admired; and
this occurs in great perfection, and with much diversity, in the lovely
insects of the _Lepidopterous_ order.
Some of the genus _Haetera_, (as _H. piera_, and _H. esmeralda_,) and
many of the _Heliconiadae_, as _Hymenitis diaphana_, &c., have the wings
nearly or quite destitute of the ordinary scaly clothing, presenting
only a transparent membrane of great delicacy; over which the light
plays with a beautiful iridescence. _Papilio Arcturus_ and some allied
species, are of a golden-green, changing to blue, or to glowing purple.
Very many of the _Nymphalidae_ are distinguished for a flush of
surpassing richness, that in one particular light gleams over the
surface. Our own _Apatura Iris_, commonly known as the purple emperor,
is a native example of this beauty, and still more _A. namoura_; but
especially the species of the genus _Thaumantis_, as well as _Morpho
Martia_, and _M. Automedon_. _Diadema bolina_ also displays a purple
flush over and around the white spots, which is exquisitely beautiful.
In general this glow is found only in the male, but in the lovely
_Epiphile chrysitis_ it is common to the female.
In _Colias Electra_ a warm purple glow plays over the surface in a
strong light, which is the more singularly beautiful, because the
permanent colour which is thus suffused is a rich golden orange. There
is, however, a species (_C. Lesbia_) of which only a single specimen is
known, and that is in fragments, in the Banksian Collection, which is in
this respect vastly superior to the former. In all these cases, the
playing gleam is more or less empurpled; in _Paphia Portia_, however, it
may be called crimson.
But still more exquisitely beautiful than any of these is the fine
opalescence that irradiates some butterflies in the changing beam. There
is a white butterfly from Senegal (_Anthocharis Ione_) allied to our
common garden whites, marked at the tips of the wings with a spot of
violet, surrounded by black. In a certain aspect, there plays over this
spot a violet opalescence of exceeding richness. And to mention no more,
(for, indeed, we know not that we could mention anything to surpass
this,) the carnation spots on the black wings of _Papilio Anchises_, _P.
AEneas_, _P. Tullus_, &c., are at intervals flushed with a violet
opalescence, so brilliant, that we know no other object to compare with
it.
In contemplating such objects, we cannot help concurring in the
sentiments expressed by the pious Ray:--"Quaeri fortasse a nonnullis
potest, quis Papilionum usus sit? Respondeo, Ad ornatum universi, et ut
hominibus spectaculo sint: ad rura illustranda velut tot bracteae
inservientes. Quis enim eximiam earum pulchritudinem et varietatem
contemplans mira voluptate non afficiatur? Quis tot colorum et schematum
elegantias naturae ipsius ingenio excogitatas et artifici penicillo
depictas curiosis oculis intuens, divinae artis vestigia eis impressa non
agnoscat et miretur?" And I may add, since such exquisite traces of
loveliness remain in a world which Satan has spoiled and sin defiled,
what must have been its glory when He who made it could take complacency
in beholding it, and in the minutest details could pronounce it "very
good!"
The Rev. James Smith of Monquhitter thus alludes to the exquisite beauty
of some South American butterflies. One or two of the species I have
already alluded to, but even these can yield additional themes of
admiration. "I hold," he says, "that there are hues and shades of
colour which are positively beautiful in themselves, and independently
of all associations whatever; and to look upon which merely as patches
of colour, affords a gratification of no mean description. And for the
truth of such an opinion, I know not where I should obtain a stronger
and a more pleasing proof, than from the _Lepidoptera_ to which I have
alluded. The patch, for instance, which is on the posterior wings of the
_Haetera Esmeralda_, and which may be characterised as a compound of
carmine and of the deepest blue dotted with two spots of vermilion, will
in itself, and irrespectively of association, communicate a pleasure to
every eye which looks upon it. The band of silver blue on the wing of a
large _Morpho_; the deep tone, to speak in pictorial phrase, of the
black in the _Papilio Sesostris_, finer even than the finest velvet of
Genoa; the rich dark orange on _Epicilia Ancaea_; the blue, shining in
one unnamed species like polished steel, in another (_Thecla_) with a
radiant clearness, which ultramarine itself could not surpass; the
satin-like golden green, the pearly lustrous white, and the deep shining
emerald ribbons in _Urania Boisduvalii_; the crimson lines and spots
deeper and clearer than blood, in a species to which no name is
attached, of _Papilio_; the small spangles of silver with which the
under surface of one of the least among them (_Cupido_) is, as it were,
incrusted; the iridescent and delicate violet with which, on the same
surface, a particular species of _Haetera_ is, so to speak, washed over,
in a way which calls to our remembrance the 'scumbling' given by
Rembrandt as the finishing touch to his finest productions; all these,
and many more, possess a beauty which I contend, in opposition to the
doctrine of Alison and Jeffrey, is absolute in itself; which is
altogether irrespective of association; and which the most skilful of
human pencils would find it impossible completely and properly to
copy."[214]