Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/127

* BIRDE. 107 BIRD OF PARADISE. Elizabeth. He published mimerous compositions exhibiting great musical learning, and contrib- uted many pieces to Queen Elizabeth's Virginal Book: but his fame rests on the canon Xon iiohis Domine. which amid all changes in musical taste has retained its popularity. His other works include Psalmes, Sonets, and Songs of Sttdnes and Pietie (1588); Songs of Sundrin Xaturcs, etc. (2d ed., I6I6) ; The Nadiialia (1607), and three masses. BIRD IN A CAGE, The. The title of a play by Shirley, licensed as The Beattties. The bird is" the luckless Prynne, author of the His- triomastix, and the cage is the Tower of London. BIRD ISLAND. One of the smaller of the Hawaiian Islaiuls. BIRD-LICE, AND Other Bied-Pabasites. See Flea: Louse: Mite: Tick, etc. BIRD-LIME. See Trappixg. BIRD OF PARADISE. A member of an Australasian family of passerine birds, remark- able for ornamental plumes, and so called in free translation of their native name in the Moluccas, meaning "birds of the gods.' which Buffon trans- formed into manncode. They first became knowTi to Europe by specimens brought by the returning ship of Magellan's expedition in 1.522; but their skins had previously circulated in trade in In- dia, Persia, and among the Arabs, being worn in the headdresses of the Janizaries early in the SLxteenth Century; and they soon began to lie imported into Spain and Portugal. In preparing for market the skins (mainly or altogether those of the great bird of paradise) the islanders cut oft' the legs and sometimes the wings, leaving in place of the latter simply the tufts of orange plumes that spring from beneath them. Thus, although Antonio Pigafetta. in his account of the Magellan voyages, had described them pretty accurately as livjng birds of ordinary' structure, many fables were woven around these mutilated skins, and burdened literature for many years, as may be seen by a reference to Aldrovandus and his followers ; and a monument remains in the present specific n.imo of the most prominent form, Paradisca apoda — the 'footless.' It is a <'urious circumstance that although first, and for a long time, only known from the Moluccas (where the species sent by the ruler as a present to the King of Portugal was not rediscovered until lately), the paradise birds are most nu- merous and varied elsewhere, especially in Xew Guinea and the neighboring islands (particularly Aru) and along the northern margin of Austra- lia ; many, however, are confined to limited areas, as a single small island. There are about fifty species forming a part of a family (Paradiseidse) , which is closely related to the crows, and which also contains the Australian rifle-birds and fcowcr-birds (q.v. ). Birds of paradise vary in size from that of a crow to that of a sparrow, and spend their lives and make their nests — which, as a rule, are of very simple crinstrictinn — in the forest tree- tops. All of them are lively and active, running and hanging about the branches with the cling- ing agility of woodpeckers, as well as in graceful perching attitudes, and all are more or less gre- srarious and migratorv. moving around, or pass- ing back and forth between certain islands, with changing seasons in search of food. Their food consists largely of various fruits; but insects, Vol. III.— «. snails, and other things are eaten, this group sharing the omuivorous appetites of the erowi and jays. Females and voung form little flocks which act together, but the males are less often seen, fliough betraying their presence b.v loud, harsh cries. The plumage of all is remarkably soft and velvety, and pleasing tints everywhere prevail; but there is a constant and great dis- similarit.v between the sexes, the females and young being dressed in quiet colors, and having none of the eccentric and gorgeous plumage which renders the males so conspicuous, and which, if worn by the hens, would betray their presence on the nest and lead to the extermination of the species b.v its natural enemies, such as monkeys, arboreal birds, and beasts of pre,v. The mar- velous ornamentation of the males seems to have been developed wholly by rivalry in attracting the admiration of the females; and in the court- ing season assemblages of these magnificent beaus take place upon certain trees, where they dis- play their beauties in a sort of matrimonial mart which the Papuans call dancing parties. "A dozen or twenty full-plumaged male birds," says Wallace, '•assemble together, raise up their wings, stretch out their necks, and elevate their ex- quisite plumes, keeping them in a continual vibration. Between whiles they fl,v across from branch to branch in a state of great excitement, so that the whole tree is filled with waving phmies in every variety of attitude and motion." This family.' therefore, naturally plays a very important part in the evidence adduced by Dar- win, Wallace, and other evolutionists, in support of the theory of sexual selection as a means of developing certain specific and group character- istics. It is at the time of these assemblages at dawn, when the birds are too much engrossed with their 'dancing' to be cautious, that the natives secrete themselves in the tree-tops and silently shoot them down with blunt-headed ar- rows; and this and other means have been prac- ticed so assiduously to supply the demand for the plumes by milliners that several species are now nearly exterminated. The skins are roiigh- Ij- prepared and cured by smoke, so that they lose a good deal of their brilliancy and delicacy of texture. Few species have been caught alive, or, at any rate, have lived to be carried to Europe, and none probably have ever reached America. Some endure confinement well enough in the tropics, and exhibit in their cages an amusing solicitude to keep their trailing finery in perfect order. It is impossible, in a brief article, to describe the bewildering variety and splendor of these astonishing birds, three of which are shown in the accompanying colored plate. The plumage of the males is characterized not only bv great brightness, but by a glossy, velvety appearance, a metallic lustre, and a singularly beautiful play of colors. Tufts of feathers generall.v grow from tlip shoulders, and these, in some of the kinds, are prolonged so as to cover the wings; in the great emerald bird of paradise (Pnradisea apoda), the prolongation of these shouldor-tufts is so great that they extend far beyond the bod.y, and even far be,vond the tail. The.v constitute the magnificent part of the well-known bird-of- paradise plumes, manv of which, however, are derived fr.)m other related species, as Paradisea m inor, illustrated in the plate ; the.v can be erected so as to seem to fall in a shower over the whole