which bears a strong resemblance to the plume of
an ancient helmet. The tips of these crest-feathers are tinged with
brown and yellow. Between the wing and upper tail-coverts appear
flowing plumes, which droop gracefully over the firmer feathers of the
tail and sides.

Like some birds of paradise in the Eastern Archipelago, the cocks of the
rocks assemble in numbers to perform a kind of dance for their
amusement, selecting generally the smooth rocks or roots of trees,--
moving here and there, round and round, backwards and forwards, and
erecting their gorgeous plumes, to exhibit their beauty. Wallace
observed a company of birds engaged in this singular way, though he says
that no females or young birds were present.

Schombergh describes a similar scene. A troop of these beautiful birds
was celebrating its dances on the smooth surface of a rock. About a
score of them were seated on the branches as spectators, while one of
the male birds, with proud self-confidence, and with spreading tail and
wings, was dancing on the rock. He scratched the ground, or leaped
vertically in the air; continuing these saltatory movements until he was
tired, when another male took his place. The females, meanwhile, looked
on attentively, and applauded the performances of the dancers with
laudatory cries.

Wallace, in his later work on the Eastern Archipelago, gives an equally
animated picture of the king birds of paradise enjoying a similar
performance on the topmost boughs of the most lofty trees in the Aru
Islands.

GOLDEN-WINGED MANAKIN.

The golden-winged manakin--another tribe--are often seen perched in
large flocks on the summits of the trees, or rapidly moving amid the
branches in search of the rich fruits and numerous insects found in the
gapo forests.

The beautiful little troupiale, arrayed in plumage of rich orange and
shining black, with delicate and well-shaped form, pours forth a variety
of sweet and plaintive notes among the dry forest lands, and has gained
from the Portuguese the name of the nightingale of America.

There is another of a smaller size, and of less rich a colour, which
also sings melodiously. It is a fearless bird, and the hen builds her
nest often in the roofs of cottages, while her mate sings for hours
close by. There are several species, one of which (the oriolus varius)
builds a curious nest like a basket, of a conical form, and of a loose
texture; securing it to the flexible end of a bra