VII PARADISEIDAE 551 
Phonygammus, Ptilorhynchus, Sericulus, Seleucides, and Semioptera ; 
a long, grating or triple sound, as in Ptilorhis ; a mewing or flute- 
like note, as in Cicinnurus ; or a sharp whistle, as in Aeluredus ; 
the last-named and Amblyornis being especially excellent mimics. 
The diet consists largely of berries, seeds, fruits of Pandanus, and 
Freycinetia, the fig, nutmeg, and so forth; frogs, lizards, worms, 
snails, and caterpillars, however, are also eaten; insects are in 
great request ; and Se/eucides sucks honey from the flowers. The 
nest and eggs of several species have now been discovered; the 
former being a loose, open fabric of sticks and leaves in Ptilorhis, 
Ptilorhynchus, Sericulus, and Phonygammus ; ox of twigs, roots, moss, 
and grass in Hucorax, Chlamydodera, Prionodura, Aeluredus, and 
Drepanornis ; 1t 1s placed in bushes, if not in low or even high trees. 
The eggs are glossy reddish-buff, with dark rufous or chestnut 
blotches and streaks, and a few black spots, in Paradisea apoda, P. 
augustae victoriae, P. raggiana, and Ptilorhis victoriae ; similar or 
whiter, often with purphsh or purplish-grey markings in Fucoraz, 
Manucodia, and Drepanornis cervinicauda ; yellower with addi- 
tional wavy scrolling in Ptilorhynchus violaceus ; yellowish-grey 
with pale brown freckles and blotches in Prionodura newtoniana ; 
bluish or greenish-white, with or without red-brown dots and lines, 
in Aeluredus maculosus and Ae. viridis ; greenish-white with a 
network of narrow brown and black lines in Chlamydodera maculata 
and C. cerviniventris ; pale lavender with sienna and lilac spots 
and scrawls in Sericulus melinus. The number of eggs found 
varies from one to three. 
Parotia lawesi, Aeluredus viridis and Scenopoeetes dentirostris, 
though not said to form bowers, make clear spaces where from 
six to eight males meet to sport, the last two species decorating 
them with green or coloured leaves, berries, and flowers. — Priono- 
dura fashions a bower or play-place of from four to six feet high 
by eight broad, piling sticks round two trees and roofing over 
the intervening space with creepers ; white moss, ferns, and green 
fruit serving as ornaments. Small structures of over-arching 
erass capped with twigs are often observable close by. Ambly- 
ornis inornata heaps a cone of moss round a sapling, leaving a 
circular gallery between this and an outer conical cover of sticks 
two feet high, covered with orchid sprays. Before the entrance 
lies a bed of green moss decked with bright flowers and_ berries, 
which are renewed daily, the withered decorations being piled at 
