The Paradiseidæ, or "Birds of Paradise," form one of the most remarkable families of birds, unsurpassed alike for the singularity and the beauty of their plumage. Till recently the family was restricted to about eight species of the more typical Paradise birds, but in his splendid monograph of the group, Mr. Elliot has combined together a number of allied forms which had been doubtfully placed in several adjacent families. The various species of true Paradise birds, having ornamental plumes developed from different parts of the body, are almost wholly confined to New Guinea and the adjacent Papuan Islands, one species only being found in the Moluccas and one in North Australia; while the less typical Bower-birds, having no such developments of plumage, are most characteristic of the north and east of Australia, with a few species in New Guinea. The distribution of the genera according to Mr. Elliot's monograph is as follows:-- Sub-family I. Paradiseinæ.--_Paradisea_ (4 sp.), Papuan Islands; _Manucodia_ (3 sp.), Papuan Islands and North Australia; _Astrapia_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Parotia_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Lophorhina_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Diphyllodes_ (3 sp.), Papuan {275}Islands; _Xanthomelus_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Cicinnurus_ (1 sp.), Papuan Islands; _Paradigalla_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Semioptera_ (1 sp.), Gilolo and Batchian. Sub-family II. Epimachinæ.--_Epimachus_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Drepanornis_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Seleucides_ (1 sp.), New Guinea (Plate X., Vol. I., p. 414); _Ptilorhis_ (4 sp.), New Guinea and North Australia. Sub-family III. Tectonarchinæ (Bower-birds).--_Sericulus_ (1 sp.), Eastern Australia; _Ptilonorhynchus_ (1 sp.), Eastern Australia; _Chlamydodera_ (4 sp.), North and East Australia; _Ælurædus_ (3 sp.), Papuan Islands and East Australia; _Amblyornis_ (1 sp.), New Guinea. FAMILY 22.--MELIPHAGIDÆ. (23 Genera, 190 Species.) GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ | | | | | -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|1. 2. 3. 4 | | | | | (As in the _Hand List_, but omitting Zosterops, and slightly altering the arrangement.) The extensive group of the Meliphagidæ, or Honey-suckers, is wholly Australian, for the genus _Zosterops_, which extends into the Oriental and Ethiopian regions, does not naturally belong to it. Several of the genera are confined to Australia, others to New Zealand, while a few range over the whole Australian region. The genera are distributed as follows:--