BIRD OF PARADISE

The most charming of the beautiful birds is the bird of paradise. There are several species quite unlike one another in the disposition of their charms, yet all eminent for the combined grace and richness of their plumage. The emerald bird of paradise is thus described:

The general color of the upper part of the body is rich chocolate brown, the whole of the front being covered with velvet-like feathers of the deepest green, at one moment sinking into black, and at another flashing forth with glittering emerald. The upper part of the throat is bright golden green, and the upper part of the neck a delicate yellow. The most wonderful part of this bird’s plumage is the mass of loose floating plumes that rises from the flanks, and extends in a most graceful manner far beyond the tail. Even in the absolute quiet of a stuffed skin under a glass case, these plumes are full of an astonishing beauty, their translucent golden white vanelets producing a most superb effect as they cross and recross each other, forming ever