CHIROXIPHIA.— CHIEOMACH^KTS. Ho 



forests of Mexico and Guatemala. In Guatemala it is far from uncommon in the wooded 

 slopes of the Volcanos Agua and Fuego, up to an elevation of about 3500 feet, and 

 though we never actually met with it ourselves, our Indian hunters frequently brought 

 us specimens from that district. 



Sumichrast, who met with this species on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, writes 

 concerning it as follows ^ : — " This Manakin, the only one 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 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 discovered in the breeding-season by the loud 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 sometimes 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. Nothing 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 Chiroxiphioe allow themselves to be approached very near 

 without showing any fear, and the sound of a gun hardly frightens them." 



Mr. Nutting i°, who observed two males dancing, says that they were upon a bare 

 twig about four feet from the ground ; the two birds were about a foot and a half 

 apart and were alternately jumping about two feet into the air, and alighting exactly 

 upon the spot whence they jumped. They kept time as regularly as clockwork, one bird 

 jumping up the instant the other alighted, each bird accompanying himself to the tune 

 of " to-lS-do, to-U-do, to-le-do," sounding the syllable " to " as he crouched to spring, 

 " IS " while in the air, and " do " as he alighted. 



CHIROMACHiERIS. 



Ckiromachceris, Cabanis, in Wiegm. Arch. f. Naturg. xiii. pt. 1, p. 235 (1847) ; Scl. Cat. Birds 

 Brit. Mus. xiv. p. 312. 



CMromachceris contains seven species, which are spread over Tropical America from 

 Southern Mexico to Southern Brazil. Three of these species occur within our limits, 

 of which C. vitellina alone enters the northern part of Colombia. 



BIOL. CBNTR.-AMEK., Aves, Vol. II., December 1890. 15 



