and very strong and well formed, are of a pale ashy-pink. The two middle
feathers of the tail have no webs, except a very small one at the base
and at the extreme tip, forming wire-like cirrhi, which spread out in
an elegant double curve, and vary from twenty-four to thirty-four inches
long. From each side of the body, beneath the wings, springs a dense
tuft of long and delicate plumes, sometimes two feet in length, of the
most intense golden-orange colour and very glossy, but changing towards
the tips into a pale brown. This tuft of plumage cam be elevated and
spread out at pleasure, so as almost to conceal the body of the bird.

These splendid ornaments are entirely confined to the male sex, while
the female is really a very plain and ordinary-looking bird of a uniform
coffee-brown colour which never changes, neither does she possess the
long tail wires, nor a single yellow or green feather about the dead.
The young males of the first year exactly resemble the females, so that
they can only be distinguished by dissection. The first change is the
acquisition of the yellow and green colour on the head and throat, and
at the same time the two middle tail feathers grow a few inches longer
than the rest, but remain webbed on both sides. At a later period these
feathers are replaced by the long bare shafts of the full length, as
in the adult bird; but there is still no sign of the magnificent orange
side-plumes, which later still complete the attire of the perfect
male. To effect these changes there must be at least three successive
moultings; and as the birds were found by me in all the stages about the
same time, it is probable that they moult only once a year, and that
the full plumage is not acquired till the bird is four years old. It
was long thought that the fine train of feathers was assumed for a short
time only at the breeding season, but my own experience, as well as the
observation of birds of an allied species which I brought home with
me, and which lived two years in this country, show that the complete
plumage is retained during the whole year, except during a short period
of moulting as with most other birds.

The Great Bird of Paradise is very active and vigorous and seems to be
in constant motion all day long. It is very abundant, small flocks
of females and young male being constantly met with; and though the
full-plumaged birds are less plentiful, their loud cries, which are
heard daily, show that they