Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1853-04-12
The Bird OfParadiSe.

There are few birds lhhat have more
deceived nnL puzzldc the learned thar
This. Some have describe il as an in.
h b lie Of the air, living only upon the
dew ofheav.n, nni never comriny LowL
10 earth. Others have acquiesce I in the
latter particular, but reprcson. it'a>
ceiling on flying insects. Some have
asserted that il was without icet, and
others have ranked it anon, the brIs oi
prey
The great beauty Of This birJ's plu.
mage and the dclormity OF its legs, seem
to have given Iise TO most Of these crro.
neous reports. The savages Of the Mo
lucca Islam is, Of which it is an inhabt.
ants, percciving the inclination the
Europeans hal for This beautiful bri,
carefully cut off its legs before they
brou,. hi il 10 marker. Thus conclu ,e |
greatest dciOrmity, they consiL re them.
selves en,i!lci to rise in their demands,
when they Offered ii for sale. One dc.
ceil le | 10 another. The buyer, Gniins :
the birl without les, naturally inquired
after them; ami the seller us nalura.ly
began TO assert that it hal none. Thus
lar The Euro ,'aan was impose upol HIM.
self. Seeing - beautiful bra w,thoul
LEGS, he conciucci ,hal it couli 1--we onl y
in the air, where IL IS were unnecessary.
he eXuaoriinary spien.or oi its plu.
mage assisted this ucceplon; anI as i,
hal heavenly beauty, so il was a>>cr,e /
10 have heavenly residence. Hence its
name, and all the false reports that have
been ma ie, concerning it.
Error, however, is shofl.livc | AMI tim
has discoverc |, that this bIiJ not only
has legs, but very large, strong ones, ioi
its SIZE. Soon alter the discovery was
made; this harmless bril- was branlc i
with The character Of being rapac.ous, o.
destroying all b.r;s OF smaller s,zs, aaI
from the amazing rapilily of ITS fight, a.
we'll quai,iiel for vast aeul OF mischle
The real history Of this pretty crcatur,
is a. present tolerably we'll known an.
it is lolnd TO be as harmless as beautiful
There are several specs OF the B.lt
! OF Pura iice.-Sume OF Them are us lar :,
as upi con, thou in reality the boIy
is not much greater than that Of The
thrush. The tail, which is about six in
ches in len, ,th, is as lons as the body
The wings are large, compare with til
biti's O.h.f dimensions. rae h.a /, tn,
throat AMI the neck are OF pale gol
culOI. The base OF he bill un,i the Side
oi the head aud throat are sutfounIel
BY biuck ira.hrrs, winch are as sJlt a.
,e.vel, unL cnan. aule ike those on th'
NECK OF u piackD.rI. Tbs hin.er par
OF tue heal is vi shining oreeu, inl.c.
with soil. The Doly ani w.n,s ln.tfi,
covered with beautiful brown, purpl,
anl gold iealhcfs. The uppcrnios. par
ol the tail leatnerS are oi Il pale yellow
aud those un.icr them white ana lon {
than the former, ior which reason th'
hinder part OF ,aiI appears 10 bc white
But wha, chiefly exclles cur. osIty are h'
two long nakei iar,hers winch sprn.
from the upper part oi the rump aDov'
the tail, ami which are usually abou
lhre, lcel long. These are bcar!el on
Iy al the beginning ana the enI; th
whole shaft, for about Two feet nine in
ches, being of deep black, while th
ieatherel extremity II of chan scabl
color.
Tni. bird, which for beauty exceed
all olher species OF this genus, Is ma
tive of the .Moiucca slan!s. There, II
the beaulIu: anl SPICY woo.s oI th'
country. these beautiful crcu .uios fly II
very large tlocks, 50 that the groves
witch pro .uce the richest species pro
.uuc t.lc llncst blr,s also. Tho iu.iab
i.ants themselves are perfectly aware o
tie .,reat beauty ol these b,r as, aud. giv'
them the nune OF G.dy b.rds, as b.,n
superior to ali Others in exislcnce.-
Thoy live in large lJcks, anl ~ nj
perch upon thc sam. lree. Incy ly yer,
rapiLiy, ani are almost continually y.
the "las, in pu.sat ol insec.s, wh.cl
iorn ihelf usual prey.
Runaway Marriages.
There is a great amount ol 500 sobe
truth in the following rcmarHs from th'
New York Tribune, upon runawa,
matches, which usually form the staple
Of mo ,ern story AMI romance where they