Ornithological Progress in New Guinea. 251 
not raised up vertically, but moved backwards and forwards 
in a horizontal and oblique direction, and are moved forward 
parallel to the sides of the beak. It is the commonest Para¬ 
dise-bird at Mount Arfak; but, as usual, the adult males are 
much scarcer than the females and young males. 
“ Lophorina atra is rat her rarer than Parotia; but I must 
tell you that the abundance of fruit-eating birds in a given 
locality depends principally on the season at which certain 
kinds of fruit are ripe ; therefore a species may be common 
in a place one month, and become rare or completely dis¬ 
appear in the next, when the season of the fruit on which it 
lives has passed. 
“Diphyllodes speciosus is also pretty common, and easy to 
kill when one has learnt to know its song, which resembles a 
kind of f teia-teia-teia ? repeated several times with diminish¬ 
ing force. The sound produced by kissing the palm of the 
hand is a very good imitation. When once you have heard 
the song, if you approach carefully, especially early in the 
morning, you will find some small spaces about a yard and a 
half in diameter cleared of sticks and leaves, where one or 
two males are paying court to a female. The males then 
erect all their feathers; the skin of the neck swells up like a 
bladder; the head seems like the centre of an aureola, 
which is formed beneath by the expanded feathers of the 
breast, and above by those of the yellow mantle, which are 
carried in a perfectly vertical position and spread like a fan. 
I kept a bird of this species alive for some days. It is found 
sometimes at little distance from the sea, on the plains, 
but perhaps more often on the hills at 1000 to 2000 feet 
of elevation, preferring open places and the vicinity of 
streams. 
<( Diphyllodes wilsoni is almost identical in habits with the 
last. I only got one specimen at Waigiou and five at 
Batanta, which were found very near the sea. Of both of 
these species I have preserved in spirit those which were not 
in good plumage. 
“ Seleucides alba is one of the Paradise-birds most difficult to 
procure. It is common enough at Salwatti; but the natives 
s 2 
