of the Lesser Bird-of-Paradise. 431 



checked and verified by other observers who have accom- 

 panied me. The illustrations, drawn from sketches made by 

 Mr. G.E. Lodge and myself with the birds before us, faithfully 

 represent what we saw. 



The display almost always takes place in the early morning, 

 between 8 and 9 o'clock ; but the Keeper has informed 

 me that on one occasion the bird was seen to " show off" as 

 late as 11.30 a.m. This occurred on a morning when the 

 early hours had been exceptionally dull, but were followed 

 by bright sunshine. P. minor has never been observed to 

 display in the afternoon, though P. apoda is said to have 

 done so. 



On bright sunny mornings the Lesser Bird-of-Paradise 

 has been seen to display seven times in about an hour. 

 The first two displays are generally the longest, and last 

 from four to nine minutes ; but they gradually decrease 

 in duration as the bird becomes exhausted, till the final one, 

 which is only sustained for about fifteen or twenty seconds, 

 and may not reach the second or acute stage. 



The figures of P. apoda and P. minor displaying, given in 

 Wallace's l Malay Archipelago ' and Sharpe's ' Monograph 

 of the Paradiseidce ' respectively, only shew the first stage of 

 the display ; and the final stage shown in Mr. Lodge's 

 coloured drawing (Plate VIII.) has never, so far as I am 

 aware, been figured or properly described. 



The purely fanciful figure of P. minor by J. Smit, in 

 Elliot's Monograph (plate 4), is wrong in almost every 

 detail, as may be seen by comparing it with Plate VIII. 



When at rest in the early morning the bird's long side- 

 feathers hang below the perch with a graceful sweep (text- 

 fig. 21, p. 432); in this position he often remains inactive 

 for long periods, especially if the morning is dull, and on such 

 occasions we have sometimes waited for two hours or more, 

 during which he hardly stirred. 



As the morning brightens he periodically rouses himself, 

 and after a few trial-notes and grunts, 



ew } orh : e, drk, 

 which sound exactly like the preliminary notes made by a 



2g 2 



