Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 140, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 June 1911 — BIRDS OF PARADISE [ARTICLE]

BIRDS OF PARADISE

Pair of Them Received at Lincoln Park Zoo. Two Magnificent Specimens of Rarest Specie* of Feathered Tribe Known to Ornithologists Landed Safely In Chicago. Chicago.—Lincoln park now has two magnificent specimens of the emerald bird of paradise, one of the rarest species of birds known to ornithologists. There are only two other liv<( specimens in this country, it is said, these being at the Bronx zoological gardens in New York, and the number in captivity, except In the gardens of oriental potentates, could almost be counted on one’s fingers, it is declared. The emerald bird of paradise comes from the jungles of interior New Guinea, and is so rare and shy that it is seldom seen, even by the natives, except in the mating season. Then the birds congregate in comparatively large flocks and the hen birds sit on branches of the trees while the male birds go through what the natives call the marriage dance. This consists In the birds extending their magnificent plumes and gracefully hopping from branch to branch to attract the hen birds. At other seasons of the year the birds pass most of their time in' the topmost branches of tall trees and are most difficult to approach, not to say snare alive. The two birds now at Lincoln park came from a dealer in London, and Cy De Vry, in charge of the zoo, considers himself lucky to get them at >2OO apiece. They are about the size of a crow, with a beautiful metallic green plumage on the body, orange colored tail feathers and with bronze and green and a red feather on the head. Because of the rarity of the birds and the great difficulty that has been experienced with them in captivity De Vry suggested that Chicagoans who wanted to see birds of paradise other than those displayed

in military shops or on the hats of women visit the birdhouse without delay. "When I heard that the Bronx gardens had two birds of paradise," said Mr. De Vry, “I was anxious to get one or two for Lincoln park. Fortune favored me. A month ago a dealer in London wrote that he had a few specimens and I promptly ordered twd male birds of the emerald variety. This is not so gorgeous a bird as the king bird of paradise, but it is such a rarity that it is extremely valuable. The two I ordered arrived in a special box fom London, but in shipping some of the beautiful tail feathers were broken. As it would take several months for these to grow in the natural way after molting, I pulled the broken quills and expect that the older bird will be in full plumage within two months. The younger one will not attain its full plumage for perhaps a year. “Fruit and Insects form the food of these birds and we are giving them the best we can get—ants’ eggs, meal worms, bananas, oranges and apples.

Just now they are pretty wild, not being familiar with their surroundings, but I hope to tame them soon and to carry them safely over the ill* that so often befall exotic birds in captivity."