CHIROXIPHIA.—CHIROMACH ARIS. 113 
forests of Mexico and Guatemala. In Guatemala it is far from uncommon in the wooded 
slopes of the Volcanos Agua and Fuego, up to an elevation of about 3500 feet, and 
though we never actually met with it ourselves, our Indian hunters frequently brought 
us specimens from that district. 
Sumichrast, whe met with this species on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, writes 
concerning it as follows ® :—“ This Manakin, the only one I have found in the western 
part of the isthmus, dwells only in certain localities, thickly wooded, at the foot of the 
Cordilleras, on the banks of streams, and still it is only in the solitary ravines and most 
shady nooks that they need be looked for. Very difficult to discover at any other time 
in the midst of the thick forests that they choose for their dwelling, their retreat is 
easily discovered in the breeding-season by the loud continuous cries made by the 
males during the greater part of the day. Two males are almost always found together 
perched side by side on the same branch, a curious fact which I have a long time 
wondered at, but the following observation enlightened me. A female pluming 
herself is perched a few steps away from these two gallants, who, anxious to please 
her, begin a loving joust the most diverting, ascending and descending with their 
wings half closed, their feathers disheveled, and their throats inflated with pleasure 
and the effort of singing. This continues sometimes for more than a quarter of an 
hour, and recommences after a few minutes rest, during which the female shows her 
pleasure by the trembling of her body and the fluttering of her wings. Nothing can 
be more graceful than this picture when a ray of sunlight piercing the dark vault of 
the forest enlivens the scene and brings out the bright tints of black velvet, of azure 
and purple that adorn the coats of these little feathered actors. With an excessive 
natural confidence the Chiroxiphie allow themselves to be approached very near 
without showing any fear, and the sound of a gun hardly frightens them.” 
Mr. Nutting ©, who observed two males dancing, says that they were upon a bare 
twig about four feet from the ground; the two birds were about a foot and a half 
apart and were alternately jumping about two feet into the air, and alighting exactly 
upon the spot whence they jumped. They kept time as regularly as clockwork, one bird 
jumping up the instant the other alighted, each bird accompanying himself to the tune 
ot ‘ to-lé-do, to-lé-do, to-lé-do,” sounding the syllable ‘“‘¢to” as he crouched to spring, 
«/é” while in the air, and “ do” as he alighted. 
CHIROMACH ARIS. 
Chiromacheris, Cabanis, in Wiegm. Arch. f. Naturg. xiii. pt. 1, p. 285 (1847); Scl. Cat. Birds 
Brit. Mus. xiv. p. 312. 
Chiromacheris contains seven species, which are spread over Tropical America from 
Southern Mexico to Southern Brazil. Three of these species occur within our limits, 
of which C. vitellina alone enters the northern part of Colombia. 
BIOL. CENTR.-AMER., Aves, Vol. II., December 1890. 15 
