PARADISEIDAE 5 5 I 



Phonygammus, Ptilorhynchus, Sericulus, Selemicles, and Semioptera ; 

 a long, grating or triple sound, as in Ptilorhis ; a mewing or flute- 

 like note, as in Oicinnurus ; or a sharp whistle, as in Aeluredus ; 

 the last-named and AmUyornis being especially excellent mimics. 

 The diet consists largely of berries, seeds, fruits of Pandanus, and 

 Freycinetia, the fig, nutmeg, and so forth ; frogs, lizards, v/orms, 

 snails, and caterpillars, however, are also eaten ; insects are in 

 great request ; and Seleucides sucks honey from the flowers. The 

 nest and eggs of several species have now been discovered ; the 

 former being a loose, open fabric of stidks and leaves in Ptilorhis, 

 Ptilorhynchus, Sericulus, and Phonygammus ; or of twigs, roots, moss, 

 and grass in Eucorax, Chlamydodera, Prionodura, Aeluredus, and 

 Drepanornis ; it is 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 purplish or purplish-grey markings in Eucorax, 

 Manucodia, and Drepanornis cervinicauda ; yellower with addi- 

 tional wavy scrolling in Ptilorhynchus violaceus ; yellowish-grey 

 with pale brown freckles and blotches in Prionodi/,ra 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 

 grass capped with twigs are often observable close by. AmUy- 

 ornis inornata heaps a cone of moss round a saphng, 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 



