Evening star., 1916-04-30

ise,er. ~ 10 ssel,ins, too. fss every
morning he sess 20 HE wofk ksuswtns
that some new specimens are w stofs
for him. hut never knowing Jus, what
rAra avis may fall Co his lot % 10
impossible to exhaust IN. treasurer OF
the tropics
Here IL a bird, said prof Ridsws,,
which should by rights have ita hsh-
itat In the United States" And hs
brought from one OF the cases . tam
ager from Argentina. itE colorins a
distinct red. white and blue. Had this
bird been q native of the United states
there would have been no trouble In
the selection OF n national bird"
Another curious bird In the central
American group Is the Jaoana. y wad-
ing bird OF the tropics. The most re-
markable peculiarity of this bird 10
the great length of the toes. four In
number. so spread that the bird 10
enabled to walk upon the floating
leaves OF aquatic plants.
Costa Rica has many lovely cottn-
gas. and here is a specimen called the
bird of the Holy Ghost" and DR..
Ridgway brought forth large. pure
white bird. 1T is found on the At
very beautiful sight to see a flock os
these snowwhite birds against a blacl.
wall of forest"
The "Cotinga Ridgwayii," so named
in honor OF DR.. Ridgway. is a beau
tiful blue bird. and 10 found on the
Pacific coast OF Costa Rica and Pam
anna 1t was discovered and named
by his friend, Senior Jose g Zeledon,
a prominent citizen and scientist OF
San Jose.
Here is a bird you should see" and
Dr. Ridgway conducted his guest to
one of the center cases. from which he
produced a magnificent bird. native OF
Central America from Guatemala to
Costa Rica. This was the royal trogon,
the famous bird OF the Aztec kings.
also known as the auesal. and one oe
the most strikingly beautiful-perhap
the most gracefully beautiful - of
birds its back a metallic golden green,
long tail coverts scintillating bril-.
Iiantly as those of the peacock.
LET me show you some Of the most
beautiful birds in the world. as well as
some of the most curious" and DIR. Ridg-
NAV led his visitor to a far-off case
whose trays were filled with specimens of
the birds Of paradise. The museum has a
fine collection of these gorgeous birds. the
wealth and brilliancy of whose plumage
almost bafie description.
These are the true birds of paradise.
They come from New Guinea until lately
their only habitat. II is an outrage. but
it is a fact that they rapidly being
ion for not only are their magnificent
plumes used extensively in millinery. but
also their soft, velvety down on back and
breast is used in great quantity to trim
the gowns Of women who will have fnery
at any cost. l have just learned that a
wealthy Englishman has introduced into
the Island of Barbados and one or two
others of the West Indies group the birds
of paradise and that they are becoming
acclmated. are breeding and increasing
and becoming part of the fauna Of that
region.
Then here are the bower birds of Aus
tralia, who build playhouses for them
selves. decorating them afresh daily with
flowers and feathers, gay shells or other
bright objects
Still another bird of curious habit shown
was the rhinoceros hornbill. the huge Ma
layan bird. 1t builds its nest In the hol-
low Of an old tree. and there immures .he
female for a period of eight or ten weeks
by plastering up the opening with clay
leaving only slit three or four inches
long. through which he feeds her
The great argus pheasant, found also in
the Malay peninsula. is another striking
foreign bird shown in the National Mu-
scum. No bird in the world has such a
wonderful variety of markings on each
individual feather. The male is the bird
Of magnificent plumage. and his antics
male bird to the display Of his feathers.
To aid him in his scientific work when
definitions Of color have Of necessity to
be absolutely exact. Dr. Ridgway, finding
that there was no adequate standard OF
colors to draw from. himself compiled
book of standard colors to give definite
names to every color tone OF every brd
ing over LOO names of colors; has be
come the standard of colors and OF color
nomenclature for the world.