Mary Eales - "Mrs. Mary Eales's receipts. (1733)"

Douglas Houghton Campbell - "Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany"

Anonymous - "The Frog Prince and Other Stories"

Basil King - "The Conquest of Fear"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

The Malay Archipelago

b >> by Alfred Russell Wallace >> The Malay Archipelago




The Paradiseidae are a group of moderate-sized birds, allied in
their structure and habits to crows, starlings, and to the
Australian honeysuckers; but they are characterised by
extraordinary developments of plumage, which are unequalled in
any other family of birds. In several species large tufts of
delicate bright-coloured feathers spring from each side of the
body beneath the wings, forming trains, or fans, or shields; and
the middle feathers of the tail are often elongated into wires,
twisted into fantastic shapes, or adorned with the most brilliant
metallic tints. In another set of species these accessory plumes
spring from the head, the back, or the shoulders; while the
intensity of colour and of metallic lustre displayed by their
plumage, is not to be equalled by any other birds, except,
perhaps, the humming-birds, and is not surpassed even by these.
They have been usually classified under two distinct families,
Paradiseidae and Epimachidae, the latter characterised by long
and slender beaks, and supposed to be allied to the Hoopoes; but
the two groups are so closely allied in every essential point of
structure and habits, that I shall consider them as forming
subdivisions of one family. I will now give a short description
of each of the known species, and then add some general remarks
on their natural history.

The Great Bird of Paradise (Paradisea apoda of Linnaeus) is the
largest species known, being generally seventeen or eighteen
inches from the beak to the tip of
the tail. The body, wings, and tail are of a rich coffee-brown,
which deepens on the breast to a blackish-violet or purple-brown.
The whole top of the head and neck is of an exceedingly delicate
straw-yellow, the feathers being short and
close set, so as to resemble plush or velvet; the lower part of
the throat up to the eye clothed with scaly feathers of an
emerald, green colour, and with a rich metallic gloss, and
velvety plumes of a still deeper green extend in a band across
the forehead and chin as far as the eye, which is bright yellow.
The beak is pale lead blue; and the feet, which are rather large
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 arc 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 also are very
numerous. Their note is, "Wawk-wawk-wawk-Wok-wok-wok," and is so
loud and shrill as to be heard a great distance, and to form the
most prominent and characteristic animal sound in the Aru
Islands. The mode of nidification is unknown; but the natives
told me that the nest was formed of leaves placed on an ant's
nest, or on some projecting limb of a very lofty tree, and they
believe that it contains only one young bird. The egg is quite
unknown, and the natives declared they had never seen it; and a
very high reward offered for one by a Dutch official did not meet
with success. They moult about January or February, and in May,
when they are in full plumage, the males assemble early in the
morning to exhibit themselves in the singular manner already
described at p. 252. This habit enables the natives to obtain
specimens with comparative ease. As soon as they find that the
birds have fled upon a tree on which to assemble, they build a
little shelter of palm leaves in a convenient place among the
branches, and the hunter ensconces himself in it before daylight,
armed with his bow and a number of arrows terminating in a round
knob. A boy waits at the foot of the tree, and when the birds
come at sunrise, and a sufficient number have assembled, and have
begun to dance, the hunter shoots with his blunt arrow so
strongly as to stun the bird, which drops down, and is secured
and killed by the boy without its plumage being injured by a drop
of blood. The rest take no notice, and fall one after another
till some of them take the alarm. (See Frontispiece.)

The native mode of preserving them is to cut off the wings and
feet, and then skin the body up to the beak, taking out the
skull. A stout stick is then run up through the specimen coming
out at the mouth. Round this some leaves are stuffed, and the
whole is wrapped up in a palm spathe and dried in the smoky hut.
By this plan the head, which is really large, is shrunk up almost
to nothing, the body is much reduced and shortened, and the
greatest prominence is given to the flowing plumage. Some of
these native skins are very clean, and often have wings and feet
left on; others are dreadfully stained with smoke, and all hive a
most erroneous idea of the proportions of the living bird.

The Paradisea apoda, as far as we have any certain knowledge, is
confined to the mainland of the Aru Islands, never being found in
the smaller islands which surround the central mass. It is
certainly not found in any of the parts of New Guinea visited by
the Malay and Bugis traders, nor in any of the other islands
where Birds of Paradise are obtained. But this is by no means
conclusive evidence, for it is only in certain localities that
the natives prepare skins, and in other places the same birds may
be abundant without ever becoming known. It is therefore quite
possible that this species may inhabit the great southern mass of
New Guinea, from which Aru has been separated; while its near
ally, which I shall next describe, is confined to the north-
western peninsula.

The Lesser Bird of Paradise (Paradisea papuana of Bechstein), "Le
petit Emeraude" of French authors, is a much smaller bird than
the preceding, although very similar to it. It differs in its
lighter brown colour, not becoming darker or purpled on the
breast; in the extension of the yellow colour all over the upper
part of the back and on the wing coverts; in the lighter yellow
of the side plumes, which have only a tinge of orange, and at the
tips are nearly pure white; and in the comparative shortness of
the tail cirrhi. The female differs remarkably front the same sex
in Paradisea apoda, by being entirely white on the under surface
of the body, and is thus a much handsomer bird. The young males
are similarly coloured, and as they grow older they change to
brown, and go through the same stages in acquiring the perfect
plumage as has already been described in the allied species. It
is this bird which is most commonly used in ladies' head-dresses
in this country, and also forms an important article of commerce
in the East.

The Paradisea papuana has a comparatively wide range, being the
common species on the mainland of New Guinea, as well as on the
islands of Mysol, Salwatty, Jobie, Biak and Sook. On the south
coast of New Guinea, the Dutch naturalist, Muller, found it at
the Oetanata river in longitude 136° E. I obtained it myself at
Dorey; and the captain of the Dutch steamer Etna informed me that
he had seen the feathers among the natives of Humboldt Bay, in
141° E. longitude. It is very probable, therefore, that it ranges
over the whole of the mainland of New Guinea.

The true Paradise Birds are omnivorous, feeding on fruits and
insects--of the former preferring the small figs; of the latter,
grasshoppers, locusts, and phasmas, as well as cockroaches and
caterpillars. When I returned home, in 1862, I was so fortunate
as to find two adult males of this species in Singapore; and as
they seemed healthy, and fed voraciously on rice, bananas, and
cockroaches, I determined on giving the very high price asked for
them--£100.--and to bring them to England by the overland route
under my own care. On my way home I stayed a week at Bombay, to
break the journey, and to lay in a fresh stock of bananas for my
birds. I had great difficulty, however, in supplying them with
insect food, for in the Peninsular and Oriental steamers
cockroaches were scarce, and it was only by setting traps in the
store-rooms, and by hunting an hour every night in the
forecastle, that I could secure a few dozen of these creatures,--
scarcely enough for a single meal. At Malta, where I stayed a
fortnight, I got plenty of cockroaches from a bake-house, and
when I left, took with me several biscuit-tins' full, as
provision for the voyage home. We came through the Mediterranean
in March, with a very cold wind; and the only place on board the
mail-steamer where their large cage could be accommodated was
exposed to a strong current of air down a hatchway which stood
open day and night, yet the birds never seemed to feel the cold.
During the night journey from Marseilles to Paris it was a sharp
frost; yet they arrived in London in perfect health, and lived in
the Zoological Gardens for one, and two years, often displaying
their beautiful plumes to the admiration of the spectators. It is
evident, therefore, that the Paradise Birds are very hardy, and
require air and exercise rather than heat; and I feel sure that
if a good sized conservators` could be devoted to them, or if
they could be turned loose in the tropical department of the
Crystal Palace or the Great Palm House at Kew, they would live in
this country for many years.

The Red Bird of Paradise (Paradisea rubra of Viellot), though
allied to the two birds already described, is much more distinct
from them than they are from each other. It is about the same
size as Paradisea papuana (13 to 14 inches long), but differs
from it in many particulars. The side plumes, instead of being
yellow, are rich crimson, and only extend about three or four
inches beyond the end of the tail; they are somewhat rigid, and
the ends are curved downwards and inwards, and are tipped with
white. The two middle tail feathers, instead of being simply
elongated and deprived of their webs, are transformed into stiff
black ribands, a quarter of an inch wide, but curved like a split
quill, and resembling thin half cylinders of horn or whalebone.
When a dead bird is laid on its back, it is seen that these
ribands take a curve or set, which brings them round so as to
meet in a double circle on the neck of the bird; but when they
hang downwards, during life, they assume a spiral twist, and form
an exceedingly graceful double curve. They are about twenty-two
inches long, and always attract attention as the most conspicuous
and extraordinary feature of the species. The rich metallic green
colour of the throat extends over the front half of the head to
behind the eyes, and on the forehead forms a little double crest
of scaly feathers, which adds much to the vivacity of the bird's
aspect. The bill is gamboge yellow, and the iris blackish olive.
(Figure at p. 353.)

The female of this species is of a tolerably uniform coffee-brown
colour, but has a blackish head, and the nape neck, and shoulders
yellow, indicating the position of the brighter colours of the
male. The changes of plumage follow the same order of succession
as in the other species, the bright colours of the head and neck
being first developed, then the lengthened filaments of the tail,
and last of all, the red side plumes. I obtained a series of
specimens, illustrating the manner in which the extraordinary
black tail ribands are developed, which is very remarkable. They
first appear as two ordinary feathers, rather shorter than the
rest of the tail; the second stage would no doubt be that shown
in a specimen of Paradisea apoda, in which the feathers are
moderately lengthened, and with the web narrowed in the middle;
the third stage is shown by a specimen which has part of the
midrib bare, and terminated by a spatulate web; in another the
bare midrib is a little dilated and semi-cylindrical, and the
terminal web very small; in a fifth, the perfect black horny
riband is formed, but it bears at its extremity a brown spatulate
web, while in another a portion of the black riband itself bears,
for a portion of its length, a narrow brown web. It is only after
these changes are fully completed that the red side plumes begin
to appear.

The successive stages of development of the colours and plumage
of the Birds of Paradise are very interesting, from the striking
manner in which they accord with the theory of their having been
produced by the simple action of variation, and the cumulative
power of selection by the females, of those male birds which were
more than usually ornamental. Variations of _colour_ are of all
others the most frequent and the most striking, and are most
easily modified and accumulated by man's selection of them. We
should expect, therefore, that the sexual differences of _colour_
would be those most early accumulated and fixed, and would
therefore appear soonest in the young birds; and this is exactly
what occurs in the Paradise Birds. Of all variations in the
_form_ of birds' feathers, none are so frequent as those in the
head and tail. These occur more, or less in every family of
birds, and are easily produced in many domesticated varieties,
while unusual developments of the feathers of the body are rare
in the whole class of birds, and have seldom or never occurred in
domesticated species. In accordance with these facts, we find the
scale-formed plumes of the throat, the crests of the head, and
the long cirrhi of the tail, all fully developed before the
plumes which spring from the side of the body begin to mane their
appearance. If, on the other hand, the male Paradise Birds have
not acquired their distinctive plumage by successive variations,
but have been as they are mow from the moment they first appeared
upon the earth, this succession becomes at the least
unintelligible to us, for we can see no reason why the changes
should not take place simultaneously, or in a reverse order to
that in which they actually occur.

What is known of the habits of this bird, and the way in which it
is captured by the natives, have already been described at page
362.

The Red Bird of Paradise offers a remarkable case of restricted
range, being entirely confined to the small island of Waigiou,
off the north-west extremity of New Guinea, where it replaces the
allied species found in the other islands.

The three birds just described form a well-marked group, agreeing
in every point of general structure, in their comparatively large
size, the brown colour of their bodies, wings, and tail, and in
the peculiar character of the ornamental plumage which
distinguishes the male bird. The group ranges nearly over the
whole area inhabited by the family of the Paradiseidae, but each
of the species has its own limited region, and is never found in
the same district with either of its close allies. To these three
birds properly belongs the generic title Paradisea, or true
Paradise Bird.

The next species is the Paradisea regia of Linnaeus, or Ding Bird
of Paradise, which differs so much from the three preceding
species as to deserve a distinct generic name, and it has
accordingly been called Cicinnurus regius. By the Malays it is
called "Burong rajah," or King Bird, and by the natives of the
Aru Islands "Goby-goby."

This lovely little bird is only about six and a half inches long,
partly owing to the very short tail, which does not surpass the
somewhat square wings. The head, throat, and entire upper surface
are of the richest glossy crimson red, shading to orange-crimson
on the forehead, where the feathers extend beyond the nostrils
more than half-way down the beak. The plumage is excessively
brilliant, shining in certain lights with a metallic or glassy
lustre. The breast and belly are pure silky white, between which
colour and the red of the throat there is a broad band of rich
metallic green, and there is a small spot of the same colour
close above each eye. From each side of the body beneath the
wing, springs a tuft of broad delicate feathers about an inch and
a half long, of an ashy colour, but tipped with a broad band of
emerald green, bordered within by a narrow line of buff: These
plumes are concealed beneath the wing, but when the bird pleases,
can be raised and spread out so as to form an elegant
semicircular fan on each shoulder. But another ornament still
more extraordinary, and if possible more beautiful, adorns this
little bird. The two middle tail feathers are modified into very
slender wirelike shafts, nearly six inches long, each of which
bears at the extremity, on the inner side only, a web of an
emerald green colour, which is coiled up into a perfect spiral
disc, and produces a most singular and charming effect. The bill
is orange yellow, and the feet and legs of a fine cobalt blue.
(See upper figure on the plate at the commencement of this
chapter.)

The female of this little gem is such a plainly coloured bird,
that it can at first sight hardly be believed to belong to the
same species. The upper surface is of a dull earthy brown, a
slight tinge of orange red appearing only on the margins of the
quills. Beneath, it is of a paler yellowish brown, scaled and
banded with narrow dusky markings. The young males are exactly
like the female, and they no doubt undergo a series of changes as
singular as those of Paradisea rubra; but, unfortunately, I was
unable to obtain illustrative specimens.

This exquisite little creature frequents the smaller trees in the
thickest parts of the forest, feeding on various fruits; often of
a very large size for so small a bird. It is very active both on
its wings and feet, and makes a whirring sound while flying,
something like the South American manakins. It often flutters its
wings and displays the beautiful fan which adorns its breast,
while the star-bearing tail wires diverge in an elegant double
curve. It is tolerably plentiful in the Aru Islands, which led to
it, being brought to Europe at an early period along with
Paradisea apoda. It also occurs in the island of Mysol and in
every part of New Guinea which has been visited by naturalists.

We now come to the remarkable little bird called the
"Magnificent," first figured by Buffon, and named Paradisea
speciosa by Boddaert, which, with one allied species, has been
formed into a separate genus by Prince Buonaparte, under the name
of Diphyllodes, from the curious double mantle which clothes the
back.

The head is covered with short brown velvety feathers, which
advance on the back so as to cover the nostrils. From the nape
springs a dense mass of feathers of a straw-yellow colour, and
about one and a half inches long, forming a mantle over the upper
part of the back. Beneath this, and forming a band about one-
third of an inch beyond it, is a second mantle of rich, glossy,
reddish-brown fathers. The rest of the bath is orange-brown, the
tail-coverts and tail dark bronzy, the wings light orange-buff:
The whole under surface is covered with an abundance of plumage
springing from the margins of the breast, and of a rich deep
green colour, with changeable hues of purple. Down the middle of
the breast is a broad band of scaly plumes of the same colour,
while the chin and throat are of a rich metallic bronze. From the
middle of the tail spring two narrow feathers of a rich steel
blue, and about ten inches long. These are webbed on the inner
side only, and curve outward, so as to form a double circle.

From what we know of the habits of allied species, we may be sure
that the greatly developed plumage of this bird is erected and
displayed in some remarkable manner. The mass of feathers on the
under surface are probably expanded into a hemisphere, while the
beautiful yellow mantle is no doubt elevated so as to give the
bird a very different appearance from that which it presents in
the dried and flattened skins of the natives, through which alone
it is at present known. The feet appear to be dark blue.

This rare and elegant little bird is found only on the mainland
of New Guinea, and in the island of Mysol.

A still more rare and beautiful species than the last is the
Diphyllodes wilsoni, described by Mr. Cassin from a native skin
in the rich museum of Philadelphia. The same bird was afterwards
named "Diphyllodes respublica" by Prince Buonaparte, and still
later, "Schlegelia calva," by Dr. Bernstein, who was so fortunate
as to obtain fresh specimens in Waigiou.

In this species the upper mantle is sulphur yellow, the lower one
and the wings pure red, the breast plumes dark green, and the
lengthened middle tail feathers much shorter than in the allied
species. The most curious difference is, however, that the top of
the head is bald, the bare skin being of a rich cobalt blue,
crossed by several lines of black velvety feathers.

It is about the same size as Diphyllodes speciosa, and is no
doubt entirely confined to the island of Waigiou. The female, as
figured and described by Dr. Bernstein, is very like that of
Cicinnurus regius, being similarly banded beneath; and we may
therefore conclude that its near ally, the "Magnificent," is at
least equally plain in this sex, of which specimens have not yet
been obtained.

The Superb Bird of Paradise was first figured by Buffon, and was
named by Boddaert, Paradisea atra, from the black ground colour
of its plumage. It forms the genus Lophorina of Viellot, and is
one of the rarest and most brilliant of the whole group, being
only known front mutilated native skins. This bird is a little
larger than the Magnificent. The ground colour of the plumage is
intense black, but with beautiful bronze reflections on the neck,
and the whole head scaled with feathers of brilliant metallic
green and blue. Over its breast it bears a shield formed of
narrow and rather stiff feathers, much elongated towards the
sides, of a pure bluish-green colour, and with a satiny gloss.
But a still more extraordinary ornament is that which springs
from the back of the neck,--a shield of a similar form to that on
the breast, but much larger, and of a velvety black colour,
glossed with bronze and purple. The outermost feathers of this
shield are half an inch longer than the wing, and when it is
elevated it must, in conjunction with the breast shield,
completely change the form and whole appearance of the bird. The
bill is black, and the feet appear to be yellow.

This wonderful little bird inhabits the interior of the northern
peninsula of New Guinea only. Neither I nor Mr. Allen could hear
anything of it in any of the islands or on any part of the coast.
It is true that it was obtained from the coast-natives by Lesson;
but when at Sorong in 1861, Mr. Allen learnt that it is only
found three days' journey in the interior. Owing to these "Black
Birds of Paradise," as they are called, not being so much valued
as articles of merchandise, they now seem to be rarely preserved
by the natives, and it thus happened that during several years
spent on the coasts of New Guinea and in the Moluccas I was never
able to obtain a skin. We are therefore quite ignorant of the
habits of this bird, and also of its female, though the latter is
no doubt as plain and inconspicuous as in all the other species
of this family.

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