Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-08-20
SHOTS AT RARE MARX.

SHOTS AT A RARE MARK.
sport with the Beautiful Rageiana, or Bird
of Paradise.
From the London Field.l
As New Guinea at present occupies a
good deal of the attention of the outer
world, some account of that part Of the
country favored by the bird Of paradise
may be of interest to some of your
readers.
A party Of girls, on sighting us, came
tumbling down in quest Of tobacco.
They were exceedingly afable and en-
gaging in their ways, and had no false
modesty about them. Having rested q
few minutes, during which I made as
many engagements to chew bitel nut
(New Guinean method of making love-
with the most tempting Of the crowd, I
scrambled up the remainder of the way.
After three miles tramping throughthe
grass we arrived ct the head of q dry
w~atercoufse, which led into the depths
Of the forest. We were now on the
verge of the haunts of the raggiana.
Huge trees rose towering above our
heads, while the underground of shrubs,
creepers, and lawyers" was sc dense
and tangled that no animal with any
body like that of a wild boar could
force its way through. The trees with
which the hills are covered are very
lofty, and bare of branches or foliage
to the height of 100 to $50 feet. It is
on the uppermost boughs Of these trees
that the bird of paradise gambols, and
n requires q close-shooting gun to
kill at that distance.
After being kept awake q great part
Of the night by the murmur of the
natives chatting around their fire, I
dropped off to sleep, and was awakened
just at daylight by o shaking and a
voice hoarsely whispering "jiake" (rag-
giana). I reused myself and listened.
The tirstlight Of day was just struggling
through the dusk Of the tree tops, when
I caught in the far distance the sound
of a piercing cry, rising in power and
shrillness with each repetition. The
sound may be conveyed by the words
kak-kak-i ak, etc. It is very much like
the cry Of an Indian bird whose tech
nical name 1 do not know, but which is
generally known by the name of the
"hot-water" bird. No sooner had
jumped from my hammock than close
at hand I heard the same cry. IL
seize my gun and slip on my boots wa
the work of a moment, and the mex
minute I was peering up into tn
heights of q huge tree to spot that TIN
native was pointing to, and where tn
bird was calling. Nothing resembling
a raggiana could I see until suddenly
ray of sunlight flashed over the distan
mountains, lighting up the forest al
most simultaneously; and then
caught the scarlet and of the bird
I "drawed" on him, and the next mo
ment had the sati faction of holding il
my hand my first bird of paradise. ]
was a lovely male specimen, in all til
splendid plumage Of the breeding sea
son, and the contrast Of the green an
gold of the head and neck with tn
bright scarlet of the back plumes justl
entities it to rank as one of the hanG
soonest birds in the world. The femal
appears very Insignificant beside he
gorgeous mate, being a small dull re
bird, without any of the brilliant color
! ing Of the male.
/ arrived at the camp abouts1O a. m
and found that Gina had just arrived
bringing two raggianas and n kin
} bird. The latter is an especially gol
geous bird, about the size of a larl
The whole of the neck, head, bacl
! wings, and tail is a brilliant scarlet, th
) breast and stomach being white, with
collaret of wildly green feathers PR
jecting from and overlapping the form
or. From the tail project two shat
J about six inches in length, unfeatheret
with the exception of the extreme end
from each of which a small circul.
disk of bright metallic feathers sprou
The magnificent s~expennis and riff
bird inhabit the Mount Owen-Stanle
and Astrolabe ranges, which lie abo,
twenty miles beyond where I was.
, three days dragged eighteen raggiana
three king birds, six gouras, and son
, smaller pigeons.