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THE far-distant islands of the Malayan Archipelago, situated in the South
Pacific Ocean, the country of the bird-winged butterflies, princes of their
tribe, the "Orang Utan," or great man-like ape, and peopled by Papuans and
Malays--islands whose shores are bathed perpetually by a warm sea, and
whose surfaces are covered with a most luxuriant tropical vegetation--these
are the home of a group of birds that rank as the radiant gems of the
feathered race. None can excel the nuptial dress of the males, either in
the vividness of their changeable and rich plumage or the many strangely
modified and developed ornaments of feather which adorn them.
The history of these birds is very interesting. Before the year 1598 the
Malay traders called them "Manuk dewata," or God's birds, while the
Portuguese, finding they had no wings or feet, called them Passaros de sol,
or birds of the sun.
When the earliest European voyagers reached the Moluccas in search of
cloves and nutmegs, which were then rare and precious spices, they were
presented with dried skins of Birds so strange and beautiful as to excite
the admiration even of these wealth-seeking rovers. John Van Linschoten in
1598 calls them "Avis Paradiseus, or Paradise birds," which name has been
applied to them down to the present day. Van Linschoten tells us "that no
one has seen these birds alive, for they live in the air, always turning
towards the sun, and never alighting on the earth till they die." More than
a hundred years later, Funnel, who accompanied Dampier and wrote of the
voyage, saw specimens at Amboyna, and was told that they came to Banda to
eat nutmegs, which intoxicated them and made them fall down senseless, when
they were killed by ants.
In 1760 Linnaeus named the largest species Paradisea apoda (the footless
Paradise bird). At that time no perfect specimen had been seen in Europe,
and it was many years afterward when it was discovered that the feet had
been cut off and buried at the foot of the tree from which they were killed
by the superstitious natives as a propitiation to the gods. Wallace, who
was the first scientific observer, writer, and collector of these birds,
and who spent eight years on the islands studying their natural history,
speaks of the males of the great Birds of Paradise assembling together to
dance on huge trees in the forest, which have wide-spreading branches and
large but scattered leaves, giving a clear space for the birds to play and
exhibit their plumes. From twelve to twenty individuals make up one of
these parties. They raise up their wings, stretch out their necks and
elevate their exquisite plumes, keeping them in a continual vibration.
Between whiles they fly across from branch to branch in great excitement,
so that the whole tree is filled with waving plumes in every variety of
attitude and motion. The natives take advantage of this habit and climb up
and build a blind or hiding place in a tree that has been frequented by the
birds for dancing. In the top of this blind is a small opening, and before
day-light, a native with his bow and arrow, conceals himself, and when the
birds assemble he deftly shoots them with his blunt-pointed arrows.
The great demand for the plumage of Birds of Paradise for decorative
purposes is causing their destruction at a rapid rate, and this caprice of
a passing fashion will soon place one of the most beautiful denizens of our
earth in the same category as the great Auk and Dodo.--_Cincinnati
Commercial-Gazette._
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