Chatterers 623 



and below, except the head, neck, throat, and breast, which are bright scarlet ; 

 there is also a broad white wing band. The Yellow-collared Manakin (P. 

 flavicollis] is similar to the last, but has the throat and neck pure yellow, while 

 the Red-capped Manakin (P. rubricapilla) is black, with the head and thighs 

 crimson, and the Blue-capped Manakin (P. c&ruleicapilla) has the cap and 

 rump blue. Another style of coloration is shown in P. nattereri, which is bright 

 green with pure white cap and rump and yellow abdomen, while in P. opalizens 

 the cap is a beautiful opalescent blue. 



In an allied, brilliantly colored genus (Mach&ropterus} the males have the 

 stems of the secondaries curiously thickened, while in Chiroxiphia it is the 

 primaries that have thickened stems. As an example of the former we may 

 mention M. pyrocephalus, which is brownish rose-color above, with the wings 

 and sides of the head green, the crown bright yellow, crossed with a central 

 stripe of scarlet, while beneath the color is pale rosy cinereous with darker 

 longitudinal stripes. Of the habits of the Lance-tailed Manakin (C. lanceolata) 

 of Margarita Island, Lieutenant Robinson gives the following account : " They 

 were abundant in the heavy forests and usually kept near the watercourses. 

 Their notes had a peculiar and bell-like quality to them, like the lower tones of 

 our Wood Thrush, and it was especially difficult to judge the distance and 

 direction of the singer. At times the notes appeared double, and as I repeat- 

 edly saw a pair of males perched on the same branch and almost in contact, 

 they may have been singing together, although in perfect unison." The nest 

 and eggs of this species are described above. 



As an example of a form in which the tail departs from the normal the genus 

 Cirrhopipra may be selected. In the best-known species (C. filicauda) the 

 outer tail-feathers are much lengthened and filiform in shape, the general plu- 

 mage being velvety black, with the whole head and neck scarlet, with the excep- 

 tion of a yellow front, and the lower parts bright yellow. 



THE CHATTERERS 



(Family Cotingidce) 



Perhaps none of the many curious and beautiful birds that find a home in 

 the New World exceed some of the Chatterers, or Cotingas, in vagaries of orna- 

 mentation or brilliancy of plumage. While many of them resemble in size 

 and appearance the members of the family last considered, the limits of size 

 are far greater, since they range from three and a half to some eighteen inches 

 in length, and the variations in feather and other ornamentation are far in excess. 

 Structurally they are distinguished by having non-exaspidean tarsi, in which 

 respect they differ from the Manakins as well as from the Tyrant Flycatchers. 

 In the more typical Cotingas the outer toes are in most cases less united than 

 in the Manakins. The size and shape of the bill varies considerably within 

 the limits of the family, being strong, elongated, and compressed in some and 



