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Bird of paradise   /bərd əv pˈɛrədˌaɪs/   Listen
noun
Bird of paradise  n.  (Zool.) The name of several very beautiful birds of the genus Paradisea and allied genera, inhabiting New Guinea and the adjacent islands. The males have brilliant colors, elegant plumes, and often remarkable tail feathers. Note: The Great emerald (Paradisea apoda) and the Lesser emerald (Paradisea minor) furnish many of the plumes used as ornaments by ladies; the Red bird of paradise is Paradisea rubra or Paradisea sanguinea; the Golden bird of paradise is Parotia aurea or Parotia sexsetacea; the King bird of paradise is Cincinnurus regius. The name is also applied to the longer-billed birds of another related group (Epimachinae) from the same region. The Twelve-wired bird of paradise (Seleucides alba) is one of these. See Paradise bird, and Note under Apod.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Bird of paradise" Quotes from Famous Books



... going away: and several of the gallants of White Hall, of which there were many staying to see the Chancellor return, did talk to her in her birdcage; among others, Blancford, telling her she was the bird of paradise. ...
— Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete • Samuel Pepys

... Flagship, the sun set exactly behind the purple island of Imbros, and as it disappeared sent out long flame-coloured streamers into the sky. The effect was that of a bird of Paradise bringing ...
— Gallipoli Diary, Volume I • Ian Hamilton

... "No;—but a bird of paradise to come to me so sweetly, and at an hour when all the other birds refuse to show the feather of a ...
— Phineas Finn - The Irish Member • Anthony Trollope

... dear," she confessed, "although I cannot walk. Without admiration there is"—she snapped her fingers—"nothing. And who would notice a linnet when a bird of paradise was about, however sweet her voice? Tell me that, ...
— Bat Wing • Sax Rohmer

... we sat, the leaves of a tree over our heads were lightly stirred, and a bird, adorned with long plumes more beautiful than those of a bird of paradise, alighted on a branch, and began to ruffle its iridescent feathers in a peculiar way. With every movement waves of color seemed to flow over it, merging and dissolving in the most marvelous manner. As soon ...
— A Columbus of Space • Garrett P. Serviss


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