Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/128

* BIRD OF PARADISE. 108 BIRDS ALL. bird. A peculiarity of many species is the pres- ence of very long feathers, which consist almost wholly of the central shaft, with little or no vanes, and which curl and glisten like pliant ■wires. The twelve-wired ficleucides nigricuns of New Guinea is a remarkable example of this; here they si)ring from the flanks, but they may be produced from the tail, wings, or head. The figure of the six-shafted bird of paradise {Paro- iia fnfilata) in the plate is another example. Its phimos may bo raised and lowered as the Iiird wills, and D"Albert is gives a long account of how one magniticently burnished male of this kind displayed all liis glittering armature, one day, in a forest glade, for the delectation of admiring companions. Among the smallest of all is the third species illustrated, the king bird of para- dise (Cinciiinurus reyius). It measures only about six and one-half inches in length, and the prevailing colors are velvety red, with the erec- tile, fan-like plumes on the sides purplish, tipped with green, and the under parts white, separated from the red throat l)y a green gorget. Those who wish to acquaint themselves further with these splendid birds, of which Thoreau said: "Na- ture made them jiure feathers to show what she could do in that line," should examine the colored life-size plates in Elliott's Monograph of the family, and in Lesson's earlier monograph, entitled Histoire naturclle dcs Oiseatix de Paradis ct dcs Kpimnijurs (Paris, 1835) ; also the ])lates of the Voyage of the Marchcsa, and the writings of A. R. Wallace, es])ecially his Mnlnii Archi- pelago (New York, 18fi!l), of Dr. Guillemard, D'Albertis, Salvadori, Hunstein, and other Euro- pean explorers of the Papuan Archipelago. A somewhat extended popular account will be found in Royal Natural History, Vol. III., pp. 329-40. BIRD OF PASSAGE. See Miokatio. of -Amm.ms. BIRD OF PREY. Any of the predaceous, flesh-eating l)irds, called in the older classifica- tions Rapaces, Kaptores, Accii)tres, etc., consid- ered as a gioup from the point of view of habits rather than of structure. They have been re- garded usually as an order divisible into two uncertain groups — Nocturnal and Diurnal — the former including the owls, and the latter the eagles, falcons, buzzard -hawks, vultures, etc. Ornithologically they are held by most modern systcmists to include the three orders tstriges (owls I, Pandiones (ospreys), and -Vccipitres, the last embracing all the diurnal falconine and vul- turine families, together with the aberrant form Gypogeranus. See Secrkiahy-Bird. Characteristics. — .-Agreeing in subsisting by the chase and seizure of living animals, or upon dead flesh which must be torn apart, all of this large group ]ireseiit an organization which com- bines great power with siH'cial tools adapted to their habits. !Most of them are masters of the power of flight, the great vultures soaring out of human siglit, and the falcons having astonish- ing dash and cpiickness. Their wits are alert, and their senses are keen, their eyesight being the most highly developed, perhaps, in the whole animal kingdom. In size they vary from the condor, one of the greatest of all birds, to the finch-falcon or i)igmy owl, scarcely larger than a sparrow. They are widespread, but far more numerous in warm climates than in cold, few dwelling near the Arctic zone; and while many are migratory, the most of them are permanent residents of the districts they inhabit. Their plumage, as a rule, is plain, black, white, reddish browns, and yellowish tints predominating; nor are crests or ornamental feathers connuon among them. The female is usually somewhat larger than the male — a fact due, no doubt, to the cir- cumstance that she labors more continuously than her partner in providing food for her young and in defending her home. All the birds of prey are monogamous, and the larger ones are believed to pair for life. Certain nesting-sites, are resorted to for many generations in succes- sion by eagles, vultures, lish-hawks. etc., the nest being annually refitted for occupancy. The nesting-sites are very various, ranging from the ledge of a lofty crag, or a tall tree-top, to bushes, the ground, or even holes in the ground. The eggs of the owls are always white, but those of other families are usually blotched with color, and they are commonly few in number. "The period of incubation is longer than in most other aerial birds, and the young at hrst are covered with down, are quite helpless, and for an un- usually long time are entirely de])endent on the parents." In all s]X'cies the many indigestible substances, as hair, scales, bones, etc.. swallowed, are later ejected from the stemaeh in pellet* called 'castings.' Predaccovs Equipment. — The birds of prey have acquired an equipment of beak and claws- entirely suitable for their work. The beak is large, strong, terminates in a shar]) hook, and the edges of the mandible are sharp and more or less serrated, forming an excellent piercing, tearing, and cutting instrument. The base of the upper mandible is sheathed in a membrane, bare of feathers, and often bright yellow in color, through which the nostrils open, and which is called the cere; no other birds have a similar beak except the parrots, which otherwise are very different from this group. In the vultures, not only the base of the beak, but the whole head is naked, in adaptation to their earri(jn-eating habits, involving the constant smearing of the head with tilth prejudicial to feather-growth. (See Vl'LTI'KE.) Instruments for seizing their prey (which includes fish), holding it or carry- ing it away, are provided in the feet, wnich are flexible, very strong, and armed with long, sharp- ly jiointed and powerful claws, giving a lacer- ating, catlike grasp, which ordinarily no force available to the victim is able to break. In car- rion-feeders, however, the feet exhibit little of this power, and the talons are comi>aratively short and blunt, for they are not called ujion to seize and hold a struggling victim. Most of tlicse birds live many years. They are nowhere very numerous in any one district. BinuoGKAPllY. Consult: books mentioned un- der Birds; Fisher. Hanks and On-ls of the I'nilcd t to 1893 was instructor in mathematics at the Friends' Central School,