. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE EMERALD BIRD OF PARADISE. 31S plumage, wliicli always commands a high price in the market. It is a very retiring bird, concealing itself during the day in the thick foliage of the teak- tree, and only coming from the green shelter at the rising and setting of the sun, for the purpose of obtaining food. Almost the only successful method of shooting the Emerald Paradise Bird is to visit a teak or fig-tree before dawn, take up a position under the branches, and there wait patiently until one of the birds comes to settle upon the branches, or leaves the


. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE EMERALD BIRD OF PARADISE. 31S plumage, wliicli always commands a high price in the market. It is a very retiring bird, concealing itself during the day in the thick foliage of the teak- tree, and only coming from the green shelter at the rising and setting of the sun, for the purpose of obtaining food. Almost the only successful method of shooting the Emerald Paradise Bird is to visit a teak or fig-tree before dawn, take up a position under the branches, and there wait patiently until one of the birds comes to settle upon the branches, or leaves the spot which has sheltered it during the night. This bird is rather tenacious of life, and unless killed instantly is sure to make its escape amid the dense brush- wood that grows luxuriantly beneath the trees, and if the sportsman ventured to chase a wounded bird amid the bushes, he would, in all probability, lose his way and perish of hunger. Those sportsmen, therefore, who desire to shoot this bird, always provide themselves with guns that will carry their charge to a great distance, and employ very large shot for the purpose, as the bird always perches on the summits of the loftiest trees of the neigh- bourhood, and would not be much damaged by the shot ordinarily used in shooting. Thi^ species is very sus- picious, so that the sports- man must maintain a pro- found silence, or not a bird will show itself or utter its loud full cry, by which the hunter's attention is directed to his victim. The large and important family of the Starlings row claims our attention. These birds are seldom of great size, the common Star- ling of England being about an average example of their dimensions. The bill of the Starling tribe is straight until near its extremity, when it suddenly curves downward, and is generally armed with a slight notch. The first sub-family of these birds is that which is known by the name of Glossy Starlings, so called on account of the silken sheen of their plumage


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884