Dan Ceriotti, age 12, of St. Louis, Mo., for his question:
WHAT EXACTLY IS A BIRD OF PARADISE?
Most of us do not think of heaven when we behold an ordinary blackhearted, corn stealing crow. Far from it. However, suppose we dress him up with a breathtaking wardrobe of gorgeous plumage and hide him in some remote, inaccessible jungle. This dazzling cousin of the common crow becomes a bird of paradise.
Suppose you were asked to select the world's most beautiful bird. Chances are you would select the proud peacock or the gleaming golden pheasant or maybe a little jewel toned hummingbird. But wait until you behold the gorgeous birds of paradise in their secret jungles on and around New Guinea. Their plumage is so colorful and so fantastic that you might divide the award among a dozen very different species.
The females resemble their crow type cousins and of the 43 known species a few of the males also wear crow type outfits. These drab couples lead ordinary lives, and the males help the females raise the chicks. Among other species, the gorgeous males ignore the busy duties of family life and spend their time displaying their fantastic plumage among the jungle boughs.
Some spread shimmering fans of scarlet feathers, others wear crowns of long plumes. Others have long tail feathers shaped like lyres. The outfit of each species is an astonishing original and no ordinary human could judge the most gorgeous.
Since time began, the natives of New Guinea have robbed the beauteous birds of paradise to bedeck themselves in handsome headdresses. Centuries ago, the feathery skins of these birds were traded to the outside world and sold to the millinery trade. However, the feet and legs were removed which led to the notion that these gorgeous creatures do not belong to the planet earth. This is how come they were named birds of paradise.
Naturally, people invented a yarn to explain the family lives of these impossible birds. Surely they must stay aloft, feeding on the dew of heaven. The eggs must be hatched on the back of the male, in a nest of his wondrous plumage. We now know that these lovely birds live in jungle trees and the female "attends to the nesting while the gorgeous male parades his plumage.