That New Bird Of Paradise

Letter to the Editor rptLERE appears to be some con 1 troversy regarding the “Ribbon Tailed Bird of Paradise”, said to have been seen by the late Mr. Jack Hides, on his Purari patrol.

In the year 1930, Mr. W. Tracy and I saw a bird on Kaindi Moun tain, in New Guinea, that fits in with the description of those seen by Jack Hides, and the Hagen-Sepik patrol.

Tracy and I were standing near the head of a small gully, that runs out below the Midas creek. Hearing a soft, flicking sound, above, I looked up, and saw, flying over us, a dark coloured bird with two long, rippling, white tail-feathers. I quickly drew Tracy’s attention to the bird, and we watched it fly clumsily across the narrow gully and alight on a branch of a nearby tree.

The tail-feathers appeared not of the stiff, spined variety, common among the birds of paradise, but were soft and flexible. This caused them to develop the rippling motion and, I think, give off the soft, flick ing sound when in flight.

Around that part of Kaindi I had often noticed, flitting around our camp, another stranger. This bird was greenish-black in colour, body seven or eight inches in length, with two tail-feathers, about 10 inches long and one inch wide, and each of the feathers was turned slightly outwards at the end. They were of the same dark colouring as the rest of the body, and were flexible enough to cause a slight, rippling motion when in flight. In my opinion, this bird is the female, and the so-called “Ribbon Tail” is the male of the species.

I have lost track of Mr. Tracy for years, but if he is still on deck he should remember the day that we saw the “Ribbon Tail” bird, although at the time we did not realise that we had discovered a bird new to science.

Mr. W. Tracy is a brother of Mr.

Frank Tracy, one-time A.W.A, oper ator at Edie Creek, and both are well-known oldtimers on the Morobe goldfield.

I am,

Bruce Hamilton.

Samarai, Papua. 8/2/1940.

Sister C. B. Little recently resigned from the Fiji Nursing Service.

The Governor-General of Australia, Lord Gowrie, last month, presented the insignia of the Order of the Member of the British Empire to Mrs. E. R. Nelsson.

Mr. John Gus Nelsson, of Samarai. East ern Papua, was awarded the M.B.E. in June. 1939, but died before he could be invested with same. Following the usual practice, the Governor-General handed the insignia to his widow. Mr. Nelsson had lived in Papua for 45 years and had been a storekeeper, a miner, a planter, a ship-owner, and a member of the Legis lative Council.