Ross Originals
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Ross Originals
| Design Size: | 227 stitches high, 147 stitches wide | (14 count: 16.5" x 10.5" or approx. 41.5 cm x 27 cm) |
| (18 count: 13" x 8.5" or approx. 32.5 cm x 21 cm) | ||
| Fabric Size: | Working on 14 count: No less than 23.5" x 16" | (60 cm x 40 cm) |
| Working on 18 count: No less than 19.5" x 14" | (50 cm x 36 cm) |
This magnificent bird inhabits the lowlands of the Southern part of Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya west of the Fly River and on the Aru Islands, Indonesia. Its plumes are much prized and worn as head-dresses by the locals. This practice has been stamped out and it is now highly illegal to remove them from the country. Fortunately, hunting does not seem to have diminished their numbers.
Early Malay traders gave these birds the name of "Manuk dewata", or "God's birds"; and the Portuguese called them "Avis paradiseus", or "Paradise-bird". These names were written in 1598, although at that time no-one from the Western world had seen the birds alive.
If you enjoyed working this design, may I suggest following it up with 'Count Raggi's Bird of Paradise' to make a superb pair?