sing at every step to observe
and study the intruder, with neck stretched and wings flapping, every
moment uttering a peculiar cry, no doubt equivalent to "Come and look!"
for it brings others upon the scene, till the pretty sight is rudely
ended by a shot and a death-wound. The cry of distress brings the
friends nearer, only to fall victims in their turn to the same murderous
gun. Our traveler once surprised a female of this species, and a droll
proceeding followed. After flying several times around his head to see
what sort of a creature he might be, she alighted on a vine, and turning
heels over head, remained hanging head down, sharply scrutinizing his
appearance from this point of view till he--shot her.

A bare-headed bird would not seem to present any attraction to the lover
of beauty, though it might be of scientific interest; but Nature, not
having exhausted her resources upon the Birds of Paradise already
mentioned, has even accomplished the feat of making a bald-headed
beauty. The bare skin on the whole crown is of a brilliant blue color
most oddly crossed by narrow rows of minute feathers, which irresistibly
remind one of the sutures of the human skull. That color shall not be
lacking, it bears, besides the blue of the head, black, straw color,
bright red, and green; and is further adorned with two very long central
tail feathers, which reach far beyond the rest of the tail, and return,
making a complete circle; a rare and lovely ornament. A good specimen is
among the later arrivals at the American Museum.

The _Manucodia_ are the curly Birds of Paradise, and our knowledge of
one of the latest and most novel of them is owing not to the
indefatigable naturalists who have braved the dangers and discomfort of
their wild island home, neither to the English Wallace, the Dutch Von
Rosenburg, the Italian Beccari, nor to D'Albertis, nor Bruiju, nor De
Myer, whose names will be forever associated with the splendid family,
but to a British officer of scientific tastes.

_M. Comrii_ is the largest, and has more curls than any other yet
discovered, for they not only decorate the top of the head, but extend
down the neck, and form ridges over the eyes. Even the tail partakes of
the general curve, which makes it boat-shaped, and--most fantastic of
all--the two middle feathers are nearly an inch shorter than their next
neighbors, and turned over at the ends so as to display the different
color of their inner surface, and