BIRDS OF SOUTHWESTERN MEXICO. 29 



Fam. PIPRID^. 



1^4. Chiroxiphia linearis (Bonap.'- 



" Tehuantepec (Tapana) ; June, 1869. 



" Iris dark-brown ; bill black ; feet orange. 



" This Manakin, the only one that 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 the 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 dis- 

 covered in the breeding-season by the loud and 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 some- 

 times 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. IS'othing 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 

 'Chiroxiphia allow themselves to be approached very near without 

 showing any fear, and the sound of a gun hardly frightens them." 



Fam. iTIO]?IOTlI>iE. 



\55. Moniotus lessoiii, Less. 



" Tehuantepec (Guichicovi, Chimalapa) ; March and September. 

 " Iris red ; bill black ; feet blackish." 



156. jflonnotus mexicanus (Sw.). 



" Tehuantepec (Chihuitan, Barrio, Santa Efigenia) ; Los Cues (Oaxaca) ; 

 August to December. 



" Iris red ; bill black ; base of lower mandible whitish horn-color ; 

 feet dull- cinereous. 



