M A N A K 1 N. 



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habitation happens to be very near the wood, which 

 is their strong hold, and even then they do it but 

 rarely. When seen they are always admired, in con- 

 sequence of the purity and brightness of their colours, 

 the apparent gentleness of their manners, and even 

 their voices, which, though they cannot be called mu- 

 sical, are rather pleasant in their chirping. The early 

 part of the day, before the sun becomes powerful, is the 

 time when they are abroad feeding. At that time they 

 appear in little flocks ; but during the rest of their time 

 they live detached, even the males separating them- 

 selves from the females. They are difficult to rear in 

 confinement, and seem to feel the want of that morn- 

 ing society, which is very constant, though it occupies 

 but a small portion of any one particular day. They 

 feed indifferently upon insects and berries, but appear 

 to prefer the first. They fly with considerable ra- 

 pidity, but their flight is low and short. Their nests 

 are formed in thick bushes and trees of low growth, 

 and their eggs, as is the case with all very small birds, 

 are numerous ; and this forms another remarkable 

 distinction between them and the rock birds of the 

 South American caves the number of a brood in the 

 green bird of the oriental Archipelago has not been 

 so fully ascertained. 



The species enumerated by different authors are very 

 numerous, but several of them rest upon questionable 

 authority, and are in all probability the same species 

 in the plumage of different ages. We shall enumerate 

 a few of those which appear to be best made out. 



Caped manakin (P.pileata) is well-established spe- 

 cies, and has been found in Brazil, in the humid forests ; 

 but it probably exists in many other parts of America. 

 The other parts are bright chesnut ; the top of the 

 head, the nape, and the quills, pure black ; the wing 

 coverts have an ash-coloured spot on their extremi- 

 ties, and the quills have greenish margins. The 

 cheeks and a streak over the eyes are bright red. The 

 tail is slightly wedge-shaped, with six feathers in the 

 middle, blackish and brown at the tips. The lateral 

 feathers are brown, with yellow bases. The under 

 parts are russet. The bill and the feet yellow, and 

 the length four inches and a half. The feathers on 

 the head admit of being raised into a sort of cape 

 rather than crest ; and the female possesses this as 

 well as the male, but it and the upper parts are 

 greenish. Her wings are ash-coloured with grey 

 spots, and greenish margins to the quills. The nest 

 and manners in the forests are imperfectly known. 



Red-fronted Manakin (P. rubifrons) is a smaller 

 species than the former, being only about three inches 

 and a half in length. The front and rump are red, 

 the upper parts black, with yellow borders to the 

 quills ; the two middle feathers of the tail longer than 

 the others, and straight ; the cheeks and chin greyish, 

 and the feet brownish yellow ; a specimen described 

 by Shaw, as P. militaris, is considered as a variety of 

 this one. This species is found in various parts of 

 South America. 



Goitred Manakin (P. gutturosd) is so named from 

 the feathers on the sides of the neck, which are long, 

 slender, and puffy, and have the appearance of an 

 enlargement or goitre on each side of that organ. 

 The upper part is black, and the under part white ; 

 the bill and feet yellow, and the length three inches 

 and a half. The female is russet on the upper part 

 and reddish white on the under. It is described as 

 from the northern parts of South America. 



White-throated Manakin (P. gutturalis). The 

 whole plumage of this species is glossy black, with 



the exception of the throat, which is white down to 

 the upper part of the breast ; the lower mandible and 

 the internal margin of some of the quills. The upper 

 mandible is black, the feet red, and the length a little 

 more than three inches. In the female, the upper 

 parts are olive green, the under parts white ; the 

 quills and tail feathers are blackish brown, and there 

 is a white spot over the eye. This species is also from 

 the northern parts of South America. 



Golden-breasted Manakin (P. pcctoralis) . Upper 

 parts bluish black ; and head, neck, and lower part 

 of the breast, of the same colour ; witha large gorget of 

 brilliant golden yellow on the upper parts of the breast ; 

 the under parts reddish brown, the bill brownish, the 

 feet ash colour, and the length three inches and a 

 half. The colours of the female are not known. 



Racquet- tailed Manakin (P. longicaudd). This is 

 one of the largest species, measuring five inches and 

 a half. It is black on the upper parts, bright red on 

 the head, passing into orange at the roots of the fea- 

 thers ; the quills and tail feathers margined with pale 

 blue, the two middle feathers of the tail considerably 

 longer than the rest, having their webs very short for 

 some distance, and then expanding to a little oval 

 disc on each ; the chin and throat deep black, the 

 remainder of the under part pale blue, the bill brown, 

 and the feet reddish. The female is dull green on 

 the upper part, mottled with green on the upper 

 parts, and has the sides of the wings whitish. 



Slue-headed Manakin (P. cyanocephald). Olive 

 green on the upper parts, with the head and nape 

 pale blue, and the rump yellow ; the quills and tail 

 feathers black, bordered with green ; the under parts 

 bright yellow, mottled with green on the flanks ; the 

 bill and feet black ; the length three inches and a 

 quarter. 



Red Manakin (P. aureola). Black on the upper 

 parts ; brilliant red on the top of the head, the throat 

 and the breast ; forehead and sides of the neck orange 

 yellow ; quills, with the exception of the first on each 

 wing, marked with a white spot in the middle ; under 

 wing coverts yellowish ; belly mottled with black, 

 red, and orange ; bill and feet blackish ; and length 

 three inches and a quarter. The female is olive on 

 the upper part, and greenish yellow on the under ; 

 and she has a ring of red round the top of the head, 

 something in the form of a little coronet. The young 

 are entirely olive, with the front, neck, throat, breast, 

 and vent feathers spotted with red. They do not 

 acquire the black till they are adult. This species 

 has been observed in Guyana ; and as the young and 

 the female are very different from the male in their 

 plumage, and have been observed with care, we are 

 naturally led to suppose that many of the species 

 which have been described from a solitary specimen, 

 are the young of others, which assume very different 

 aspects in their mature plumage. It is important to 

 know that any genus of birds is subject to changes of 

 this kind, because the changes always run more or 

 less through every species of the genus ; and this 

 ought to teach systematists a little caution as to the 

 number of species which they establish from colour 

 alone. In its mature plumage, this is one of the most 

 beautiful of these birds, beautiful as most of them are. 



Green Manakin (P. stringillata). This is a Bra- 

 zilian species, three inches and a quarter in length, 

 and the female is a very handsome little bird. The 

 upper part is of a rich green colour, and the top of 

 the head ornamented with a fine crest of the most 

 brilliant red. The quills are brown, bordered with 



