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Dave's Mythical Creatures and Places |
Bird of Paradise
| Description | Beautiful birds with colorful
plumage, long tail feathers, and no feet. Some versions say they are
wingless.
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| Features | These
birds were believed to be from paradise, These birds were said to always
fly; they would never
touch the ground. They would fly with their faces towards the sun,
until they died. The female would lay her eggs on the male's back,
and hatch them as he flew. Some versions said they lived on air, others
said they lived on dew and the nectar of spice trees. They are found in
Java and Malay and New Guinea.
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| Also called | Manucaudiata,
or Manuqdewata (bird of the gods)
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| Might Actually be | Some varieties of the bird family Paradisaeidae, found in New Guinea and nearby islands. In the past, the natives prepared the dead birds for sale to foreigners by removing the legs and wings from them, which created this illusion.
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| Described By: | Gesner-
This bird "never sits upon the earth or any other thing, being
born in Paradise."
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