AMPELIDJi:. 185 



soft insects^ sucli as caterpillars^ niantides, and grass- 

 hoppers ; moreover_, they occasionally feed on the 

 fruit of the banyan tree. They continue their search, 

 hopping from branch to branch, until every bough 

 has been carefully inspected, when they fly off 

 together to another tree. Their flight is undulating, 

 powerful, and performed with few vibrations of the 

 wings. They rarely fly, except to pass from one por- 

 tion of the forest to another, or occasionally to take 

 insects on the wing as they pass within a certain 

 distance from them when perched. Their eggs are 

 usually two in number, and are deposited in a nest 

 placed on the fork of a bough. It is composed of 

 small dead twigs firmly matted together with a very 

 fine white downy substance like a cobweb, inter- 

 mixed with a species of lichen, and is extremely 

 shallow. 



The typical species is — 



The Braceleted Caterpillar-eater {Ptilogonys armil- 

 latus). 



