CHATTERERS. 



535 



elongated. Although the whiteheaded manakin has a wide distribution, ranging 

 from the valley of the Amazon to the Isthmus of Panama, the majority of the species 

 are confined to Brazil. Among them, the common manakin (Piprci manacus), which 

 is spread over a large portion of South America, is a lively, active, restless species, 

 generally to be seen in motion. Making its home in the dense scrub of aboriginal 

 forests, avoiding large trees, and flitting through the bushes at a short distance 

 from the ground, with a short but swift flight, it is a bird of social disposition,, 

 being rarely found solitary, electing to live a common life with its fellows. The 



COCK OF THE ROCK (^ nat. size). 



most curious fact about this manakin, and certain of its allies, is the circumstance 

 that its wings are modified by the thickening of the shafts to produce a loud noise, 

 which has been compared to the whirr of a spinning-wheel. The adult has the 

 crown and upper-parts black, as are the wings and tail ; the rump being grey, and 

 the throat and under-parts white. 



Cocks of the The birds of the genus Rupicola are remarkable for their brilliant 



Rock. coloration, especially that of the males, in all of which orange-red 



predominates. The type has the bill of moderate size, curving towards the 



extremity; the upper mandible being as wide as it is high, compressed at the 



base, and notched at the points ; while the nostrils are oval, and hidden by the 



