MANAKIN 



r 'y '> 



5jj 



wing-bones of these birds are also much thickened, no doubt in cor- 

 relation with this abnormal structure. A like deviation from the 

 ordinary character is found in the allied genus Manams or Chiro- 

 machceris, comprehending 7 species, and that gentleman believes it 

 enables them to make the singular noise for Avhich they have for 

 long been noted {cf. Song), described by Mr. Salvin {Ibis, 1860, 

 p. 37) in the case of one of them, M. candsei, as beginning "with a 

 sharp note not unlike the crack of a whip," which is " followed by a 

 rattling sound not unlike the call of a landrail " ; and it is a similar 

 habit that has obtained for another sjDecies, 31. etlwardsi, the name 



CORKESPONDINO FeATHEBS OF THE FEMALE, 

 SHEWING THE SAME ASPECT. 



Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Secondaries 



OF THE MALE MaCH^ROPTERUS DELICIO- 

 StrS : THE FIRST TWO FROM ABOVE, THE 

 LAST FROM P.ENEATH. 



(From the Proceedings oftlie Zoological Society, 1860, p. 90.) 



in Cayenne, according to Buffon (Hist. Nat Oiseaux, iv. p. 413), of 

 Cassenoisette. This view is supported by Mr. Layard, who, writing of 

 the last species, says (Ibis, 1873, p. 384) — "They make a curious 

 rattling noise (I suspect, by some movement of the oddly shaped 

 wing-feathers), which constantly betrays their presence in the 

 forests," while of the congeneric M. gutfurosus, Mr. J. F. Hamilton 

 remarks {Ibis, 1871, p. 305) — "The first intimation given of the 

 presence of one of these birds is a sharp whirring sound very like 

 that of a child's small wooden rattle, followed by two or three sharp 

 snaps." The same observer adds (loc. cit.) of a member of the 

 kindred genus ChiroxipJda, containing 5 species, that C. caiidata is 

 known to the Brazilians as the Fandango-bird from its " habit of 

 performing a dance." They say that " one perches upon a branch 

 and the others arrange themselves in a circle round it, dancing up 

 and down on their perches to the music sung [?] by the centre one." 

 Exception must be taken to this story so far as regards the mode in 

 which the " music " is produced, for these birds have no true song- 



