Amboyna, Septr. 30th. 1859.
My dear Mr. Gould1
I hasten to reply to yours of June 25th.2 by return of post as requested, & it is pleasing to me to find that my collections excite so much interest.
Semioptera Wallacei. G. R. Gray3
The following is an extract from my notebook:
"It frequents the lower trees of the virgin forest, & is in almost constant motion. It flies from branch to branch, clings to the twigs, & even to the vertical smooth trunks almost as easily as a woodpecker. It continually utters a harsh creaking cry, something between that of Paradisea <Paradisaea> apoda & the more musical note of P. regia. The males at short intervals open & flutter their wings, erect the long shoulder feathers & expand the elegant shields on each side of the breast. Like the other Birds of Paradise, the females & young males far outnumber the fully plumaged birds which makes it probable that it is only in the 2nd. or 3rd. year that extraordinary [2] accessory feathers are fully developed."
The bird seems to feed mostly on fruit, though it probably takes insects occasionally. The iris is of a deep olive, — the bill olive horny, the feet orange, & the claws horny. I have now obtained a few specimens of what appears to be the same bird from Gilolo, — but the crown is more decidedly violet & the plumes of the breast much larger.
I have now an interesting collection from Menado including the singular Megacephalon and also one from Gilolo with I think a new & fine Megapodius & the superb Pitta maxima Forst., the finest bird I think of the whole family. After sending these off I am off to Ceram where I hope to do something good in ornithology. A paper lately sent to the Linnaean will give you my ideas on the structure & origin of the Archipelago.4
Yours faithfully | Alfred.R. Wallace [signature]
John Gould Esq.
Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP786.958)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
[1]1 [p. 61]
The Semioptera wallacii frequents the lower trees of the virgin forests, and is almost constantly in motion. It flies from branch to branch, and clings to the twigs and even to the vertical smooth trunks almost as easily as a Woodpecker. It continually utters a harsh croaking cry, something between that of Paradisea <Paradisaea> apoda and the more musical cry of Cicinnurus regius. The males, at short intervals, open and flutter their wings, erect the long shoulder feathers, and expand the elegant shields on each side of the breast. Like the other Birds of Paradise, the females and young males far outnumber the fully plumaged birds, which renders it probable that the extraordinary accessory plumes are not fully developed until the second or third year. The bird seems to feed principally upon fruit, but it probably takes insects occasionally.
"The iris is of a deep olive; the bill horny-olive; the feet orange, and the claws horny.
"I have now obtained a few examples of apparently the same bird from Gilolo; but in these the crown is of a more decided violet hue, and the plumes of the breast are much larger."
Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Published letter (WCP786.5110)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP786,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on