Part 31

Other species of Cactus and Cereus, some with yellow, and some with pink, and some with rich crimson blossoms,--the pride of our conservatories,--sprawl profusely in these gardens; and here the Bar-tail flaunts all day long sipping the nectar, and picking up myriads of minute insects which the blossoms attract, and which lodge in the honeyed recesses.

But it is time that the reader should know what sort of a bird this Bar-tailed Comet is. Attend, then, while I describe his ball-dress, more lustrous than any fair lady ever wore at Almack's. The head, neck, upper part of the back, and a considerable portion of the under surface, are light green, with reflections of burnished gold on the cheeks and forehead. The lower back is of a deep crimson. The throat flames like an emerald. The tail is the chief feature, the feathers being broad, and greatly lengthened, in regular graduation from the central ones to the outmost pair, which are double the length of the entire bird besides. The form of the tail is widely forked, its outline having a double curve, somewhat lyre-shaped. The tail-coverts are ruddy brown; and the feathers themselves are of the richest and most glowing fire-colour, incomparably lustrous; each feather being broadly tipped with velvety black. The graduation of the feathers throws these terminal black tips to a considerable distance from each other, and their alternation with the intermediate spaces of the fiery glow has an inconceivably charming effect, as the bird makes its rapid evolutions through the air, and whisks about among the flowers, with a velocity which the eye of the beholder can scarcely follow. It is very fond of certain long trumpet-shaped pendent blossoms, into which it penetrates so far, that nothing of it can be seen except the tips of its radiant forked tail projecting from the tube.

Another family of birds that is conspicuous for gorgeous beauty is that of the Pheasants. Our own familiar species, which is said to have been brought long ages ago from the banks of the Phasis in Colchis, by Jason in the Argo,--

"Argivâ primum sum transportata carinâ,"--

is a very splendid bird, and is well painted in a few lines by Pope;--who speaks of his

"Glossy varying dyes, His purple crest and scarlet-circled eyes; The vivid green his shining plumes unfold, His painted wings, and breast that flames with gold."

But besides this, there are Indian and Chinese species which excel it in glory. There are the richly-pencilled Gold and Silver Pheasants, and the noble Reeves' and Amherst Pheasants, with their extraordinary long-barred tail plumes. The last named is a bird of unusual magnificence.

Then there is the splendid Fire-back of Sumatra and Java, which is adorned with a crest of slender stalked feathers, each expanding into a disk with spreading barbs. The head, neck, breast, and belly of this rare bird are of deep steel-blue, very lustrous, the lower part of the back fiery orange-red or flame-colour, varying in intensity according to the incidence of the light, and passing like a zone of fire round the body, though less brilliant on the abdomen; the rump and tail-coverts broad and truncate, bluish-green, each feather tipped by a paler bar. The tail is erect and arched, somewhat like that of the common cock, its middle feathers are pure white, and all the rest black, with green reflections. The legs and feet, which are scarlet, and the skin of the face, purple, complete the toilet of this magnificent oriental.

What shall we say to the Argus Pheasant, the bird of Malacca with the magnificent pinions? How fine a sight must it be to see this noble fowl displaying his coxcombery in the presence of his admiring hens, strutting to and fro with his long tail feathers spread and erected, and his broad wings expanded and scraping the ground far on each side! The colours, it is true, are sober browns, varied with black and white; but how exquisitely are these arranged! Perhaps no brilliancy of tint would more charm the eye than the row of ocellated spots,--each a dark circular disk surrounded by concentric circles,--that runs along the centre of each of the enormously-developed secondary wing-quills.

To come back to colour and metallic refulgence. We must not overlook the Monâl, or Scaly Impeyan of the Himalaya chain. This fowl, which is little less than a turkey, looks as if clothed in scale armour of iridescent metal, of which the specific hues can scarcely be indicated, so changeable are they; green, steel-blue, crimson, purple, and golden-bronze,--all of the utmost intensity of colour, and of dazzling refulgence, adorn this bird, set off by a broad square patch of pure white in the middle of the back, while the crown of the head carries a drooping crest of naked-shafted, broad-tipped, green feathers. This splendid fowl is as hardy as the turkey or pheasant, and will probably before long be domesticated in British preserves, to which it would be a noble addition, being perhaps exceeded by nothing in nature for refulgence.

In the same regions are found the Polyplectrons, or Pheasant Peacocks, birds of the same family. Look at one of these in detail, the Crested Polyplectron of the Sunda Isles. It much resembles a peacock in contour, the head and neck black, with steely reflections, relieved by a long stripe of white arching over each eye, and a broad patch of the same on the ears. The forehead and crown carry a crest of tall feathers capable of erection, and making a fine ornament. The whole under parts are velvet black; the back and rump warm brown, with paler wavy bands and lines. The coverts and secondary feathers of the wings are of the richest blue, each feather tipped with velvety black. But the tail is the grand display. It is a true tail, not a train of superincumbent feathers as in the peacock, the quill-feathers being of great length and breadth, and the whole capable of being widely expanded into an enormous rounded fan. The individual feathers are brown, pencilled and sprinkled with pale buff,--a pretty ground, on each of which is painted two large oval eye-spots of the most brilliant metallic blue or green, according to the light, contained within encircling double rings of black and white. These refulgent eyes are so set that they constitute two curved bands placed at some distance apart, running across the tail, and when this organ is expanded they impart to it a most regal appearance.

Last, but not least, in this distinguished tribe, there is the familiar Peacock, a proverb of splendour in raiment from the remote antiquity of Aristophanes and Aristotle to Mr Hollingshead, who lashes the sumptuary tendencies of our modern ladies under the title of "Peacockism." The true Peacock, however, the genuine bird, may at least plead that no milliners' bills of £3000 are ever proved against him in Bankruptcy Courts.

I am not going to be so impertinent as to describe in detail the plumage of a bird so well known as the Peacock. Who does not know his empurpled neck so elegantly bridled, his aigrette of four-and-twenty battledore-feathers, his pencilled body-clothing, and, above all, his grand erectile train with its rows of eyelets? Who has not admired the lustre and beauty of those eyelets,--the kidney-like nucleus of deepest purple, the surrounding band of green, widening in front and filling the notch of the pupil, the broad circle of brown, and the narrow black ring edged with chestnut, and then the decomposed barbs of the feather, gilded green, all presenting the effulgence of burnished metal, or rather the glitter and glow of precious gems, flashing in the varying light? One can hardly imagine the splendour of the scene described by Colonel Williamson, as seen by him in the Jungleterry District in India, when, being engaged shooting these beautiful fowl, he estimates that not fewer than twelve or fifteen hundred Peafowl of various sizes were within sight of him for nearly an hour. "Whole woods were covered with their beautiful plumage, to which the rising sun imparted additional brilliancy. Small patches of plain among the long grass, most of them cultivated, and with mustard then in bloom, which induced the birds to feed, increased the beauty of the scene."

In the preceding volume I have spoken of the gorgeous beauty of the Birds of Paradise, and have quoted the description given by Lesson of his rapt feelings when, on first seeing a specimen in the forests of Papua, he could not shoot from emotion. A chapter on animal beauty cannot pass over this magnificent family, though to my own taste there is something in the refulgent radiance of the Humming-birds and Pheasants which is superior to anything seen in the Paradise-birds. The latter, or some of them at least, give me the idea of being over-dressed, particularly that one called the Superb, whose singular forked gorget and shoulder-cape, gorgeous as these adornments are, with their lustrous violet and green flushes, are somewhat inelegant in form. Yet some of them are softly beautiful;--

"So richly deck'd in variegated down, Green, sable, shining yellow, shading brown, Tints softly with each other blended, Hues doubtfully begun and ended; Or intershooting, and to sight Lost and recover'd, as the rays of light Glance in the conscious plumes touch'd here and there.

* * * * *

"This the Sun's Bird, whom Glendoveers might own, As no unworthy partner in their flight Through seas of ether, where the ruffling sway Of nether air's rude billows is unknown: Whom sylphs, if e'er for casual pastime they Through India's spicy regions wing their way, Might bow to as their lord."

The Emerald Paradise, the best known of the family, seems to have been in the poet's eye; and certainly the combination of form and colour in this species is very charming. The rich chocolate of the upper parts, and the delicate lemon-yellow of the neck, contrast well with the gemmeous green lustre of the front, when the velvety plumage flashes and gleams in the sunlight. And the numerous soft floating plumes that arch out from the flanks to a great distance on all sides are exquisite in loveliness. "Even in the absolute quiet of a stuffed skin under a glass case," as Mr Wood remarks, "these plumes are full of astonishing beauty, their translucent golden-white vanelets producing a most superb effect as they cross and recross each other, forming every imaginable shade of white, gold and orange, and then deepening towards their extremities into a soft purplish red."

Mr G. Bennett, who saw a living specimen in an aviary at Macao, describes these long, elegant, loose-barbed plumes as occupying a good deal of the bird's own attention and care. "One of the best opportunities of seeing this splendid bird in all its beauty of action as well as display of plumage, is early in the morning, when he makes his toilet: the beautiful sub-alar plumage is then thrown out and cleaned from any spot that may sully its purity, by being passed gently through the bill; the short chocolate wings are extended to the utmost, and he keeps them in a steady flapping motion as if in imitation of their use in flight, at the same time raising up the delicate long feathers over the back, which are spread in a chaste and elegant manner, floating like films in the ambient air. In this position the bird would remain for a short time, seemingly proud of its heavenly beauty, and in raptures of delight with its most enchanting self; it would then assume various attitudes, so as to regard its plumage in every direction."

Passing over all other classes of animate existence, I shall say a few words on the surpassing loveliness which is displayed by many of the Insect tribes. The nursery prejudice, that these creatures are worthy only to be trodden under foot, as things repulsive and disgusting, is certainly decaying, though it retains its hold still in some minds. A glance through an entomological cabinet would prove how unjust are such notions. If brilliant hues, polished surface, sculptured chasings, graceful forms, and lively motions can command admiration, these are displayed by Insects to a degree which we should in vain look for in any other class of creatures. We need not speak of simple colours; these occur in profusion, of all hues, of all shades of intensity, and of the very highest degrees of brightness; combined too, in the most elegant manner, and very frequently, particularly in the Lepidoptera, presenting that peculiar charm which results from the association of tints that are complemental to each other.

Words are always felt to be too poor to describe the refulgence of the hues of many of the feathered tribes;--the metallic gloss of the Trogons and the oriental Gallinaceæ, the gem-like flashings of the Humming-birds and the Birds of Paradise. Perhaps it would be deemed extravagant to assert, that these glories can be excelled by the tiny races I am now discussing; but equalled, most fully equalled, they assuredly are. To possess the glow of burnished metal upon the most varied hues, is, in the order Coleoptera, a common thing. Most of the Eumolpidæ are remarkable for this; of which I may instance Chrysochus fulgidus, a beetle from Bombay. The Buprestidæ have long been celebrated, for the same reason; and portions of their bodies have been used in the toilet of ladies, in association with diamonds and rubies.

Many of the Chlamydæ blaze with golden-crimson, purple, and the most fiery orange. The species of the small genus Eurhinus seem to send forth the coloured flames of the pyrotechnic art. The Longicornes display the same beauties, associated with gigantic size. Cheloderus Childreni, for example, a large beetle from Columbia, is equal to any Buprestis for the radiance of the green, crimson, purple, blue, scarlet, and gold, that are all at the same time flaming from its singularly-sculptured surface.

But there are impressions conveyed by the reflection of light from the bodies of many beetles, which far exceed the metallic fulgor of which I have been speaking, beautiful as it is. I cannot hope to describe them intelligibly; I know of no combination of words which will give an idea of them. I mean the soft, almost velvety radiance of some of the Goliathi; of many of the Cetoniæ, as the genus Eudicella, for instance; and of not a few of the Phanæi, in the former two, the hue is generally green; in the latter, this colour is associated with other hues, most glowing, yet of an indescribable softness. I cannot imagine anything of this sort more charming than the soft golden and orange hue upon the green of the magnificent Phanæus imperialis.

Others again, as Hoplia farinosa, a little chafer from Southern Europe, and many of the weevil tribe (Curculionidæ), are covered with scales of vivid splendour, but so minute, and so closely set, that the whole surface reflects one soft but rich lustre of tints, differing according to the species. We would instance, of these, the noble species of the genus Cyphus. Others of the same great family, on a dark but still richly-coloured ground, have the minute scales clustered in spots or bands, forming regular patterns in much variety; and in these they reflect rainbow hues, as if a sunbeam decomposed through a prism had been solidified and pulverised; or if viewed through a lens, looking like powdered gems, each individual scale changing its hues with the slightest motion of the eye. Among these we may mention Hypsonotus elegans, Cyphus spectabilis, Entimus splendidus, and E. imperialis, commonly known as diamond beetles; and the elegantly-shaped genus Pachyrhynchus, of which the P. gemmatus, from the Philippine Islands, is, perhaps, the most lovely of all earthly creatures.

And if we look at the Lepidoptera, the order more especially under review, we feel that beauty belongs to them rather as an essence than as an accident. Their broad fan-like wings have an airy lightness and grace to which the painter and the poet pay homage, when they endow the sylphs and loves of their fancy with butterfly pinions.

They are clothed with minute scales, which are the vehicle of their colours, somewhat resembling in this respect the beetles last spoken of; but they have beauties peculiar to themselves. Fine combinations and contrasts of colours are too much the rule in this order to need specification; and these are often shaded and blended with a downy softness, as in the Sphinges and Moths. As illustrious examples, I will mention the Gynautocera, a group of Oriental Moths approaching in some points the Butterflies, as exhibiting the most brilliant hues in bands and clouds, but softly blended and mingled, with exceeding chasteness and beauty.

Many species of the genus Catagramma, a group of Butterflies marked on the inferior surface of the fore-wings with scarlet and black, and on that of the hind with singular concentric circles of black on a white ground, have on the superior surface the metallic lustre common in the beetles, the wings being of golden green or blue. The genus Urania has this radiance still more conspicuous; while the inferior surface of some of the Theclæ, as T. imperialis, T. Actæon, T. Endymion, &c., is covered with the most rich and varied metallic hues, as if powdered with gold, copper, and silver filings. Some Butterflies, as several of our native Fritillaries, and more vividly an American species, (Argynnis passifloræ,) one from New Zealand, (Argyrophenga antipodum,) and the beautiful Paphia Clytemnestra, have spots of burnished silver on their inferior surface; and several of our own moths, as the genus Plusia, are so spotted on the upper surface. Others display a lustre between that of silver and that of pearl, as several species of Charaxes on one, and the magnificent Morpho Laertes on both surfaces. But of this sort of beauty, perhaps nothing can excel the gemmeous green, changing to azure, of Papilio Ulysses, or that of Apatura (?) laurentia; or, above all, of some of the great Brazilian Morphos. The blaze of silvery azure that flashes from M. Adonis, M. Cytheris, and M. Menelaus, is indescribable; the eyes are pained as they gaze upon it; yet there is said to be an unnamed species from the emerald mountains of Bogota, of which a single specimen is in a private cabinet in London, which is far more lustrous than these.

The change from one hue to another produced by the play of light in altering the angle of its reflection, has always been much admired; and this occurs in great perfection, and with much diversity, in the lovely insects of the Lepidopterous order.