THE MANAKIN. 



Description Sonnini's observations. 



THE MANAKIN. 



THIS is a tribe of small but very pretty birds, 

 the largest of which are inferior in size to the spar- 

 row, and the others are as small as the wren. 

 The general characters which are common to all 

 the varieties, are a short, straight bill, compressed 

 on the sides towards the end ; the upper mandible 

 convex above, and somewhat serrated on the 

 dges, rather longer than the lower, which is flat 

 and perfectly straight. All these birds, likewise, 

 have a short tail of a square figure. 



The natural habits of these birds have not yet 

 been observed with sufficient accuracy to enable 

 us to give an exact detail of them. The only na- 

 turalist that has written on this subject is M. Son- 

 nini, who during his residence in South Ameri- 

 ca, saw a great number of manakins in a state of 

 nature. They inhabit the extensive forests in 

 the hot climates of that continent, and this resi- 

 dence they never exchange for the open plain, or 

 the neighbourhood of human habitations. Their 

 flight, though rapid, is always short and low ; 

 they never perch on the summits of trees, but on 

 branches of a moderate height, feeding upon the 

 smaller kinds of wild fruits, and on insects. 



They are usually seen in companies of eight or 

 ten of the same species ; sometimes they are 

 mingled with troops of other species, and even 

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