in ornithology; a genus of birds of the order of passerine. Latham gives it the name of manakin, and so does Buffon, who informs us that it was bestowed upon them by the Dutch settlers in Surinam. Latham describes 25 different species, and five varieties. The general character of the genus is, that the bill is short, strong, hard, and slightly incurved, and the nostrils are naked. The middle toe is connected to the outer as far as the third joint; this character, however, is not altogether universal, some of the species differing in this particular. The tail is short. This genus has a considerable resemblance to the genus parus, or titmouse. They are supposed to inhabit South America only; but this is not true, for Mr Latham assures us that he has seen many of those species which he has described which came from other parts, but which nevertheless certainly belong to this genus.—Buffon differs widely in his arrangement from Mr Latham, and only enumerates six distinct species. Without particularizing those differences, however, we shall give from Buffon the following elegant account of the genus in general: "The natural habits common to them all were not known, and the observations which have been made are still insufficient to admit an exact detail. We shall only relate the remarks communicated to us by Sonini of Mananconur, who saw many of these birds in their native climates. They inhabit the immense forests in the warm parts of America, and never emerge from their recesses to visit the cleared grounds or the vicinity of the plantations. They fly with considerable swiftness, but always at a small height, and to short distances; they never perch on the summits of trees, but on the middle branches; they feed upon small wild fruits, and also eat insects. They generally occur in small bodies of eight or ten of the same species, and sometimes intermingled with other flocks of the same genus, or even of a different genus, such as the Cayenne warblers, &c. It is commonly in the morning that they are found thus assembled, and then seem to be joyous, and warble their delicate little notes. The freshness of the air seems to inspire the song, for they are silent during the burning heat of the day, and disperse and retire to the shade of the thickest parts of the forest. This habit is observed, indeed, in many kinds of birds, and even in those of the woods of France, where they collect to sing in the morning and evening; but the manakins never assemble in the evening, and continue together only from sun-rise to nine or ten o'clock in the forenoon, and remain separate during the rest of the day and the succeeding night. In general they prefer a cool humid situation, though they never frequent marshes or the margins of lakes."

1. The pipra rupicola, or crested manakin, is about the size of a small pigeon, being about 10 or 12 inches long. The bill is about an inch and a quarter long, and of a yellowish colour. The head is furnished with a double round crest; the general colour of the plumage is orange, inclining to saffron; the wing coverts are loose and fringed; the quills are partly white and partly brown; the tail feathers are in number 12; the base half of the ten middle ones is of an orange colour, from thence to the ends they are brown; the outer feathers are brown, and the base half of the inner web is orange; all of them are similarly fringed; the upper tail coverts are very long, loosely webbed, and square at the ends; the legs and claws are yellow. The female is altogether brown, except the under wing coverts, which are of a rufous orange; the crest is neither so complete nor rounded as that of the male. Both males and females are at first grey, or of a very pale yellow, inclining to brown. The male does not acquire the orange colour till the second year, neither does the female the full brown.

"This beautiful species (says Latham), inhabits various parts of Surinam, Cayenne, and Guiana, in rocky situations; but is nowhere so frequent as in the mountain Luca, near the river Oyapoc, and in the mountain Courouay, near the river Aprouack, where they build in the cavernous hollows, and the darkest recesses. They lay two round white eggs, the size of those of a pigeon, and make the nest of a few dry bits of sticks. They are in general very shy, but have been frequently tamed, insomuch as to run at large among the poultry. It is said that the female, after she has laid eggs for some years, and ceases to do more, becomes at the ensuing moult of the same colour as the male, and may be mistaken for him; in this imitating the females of various kinds of poultry, such as the peacock, pheasant, &c. (See Pavo, &c.) A most complete pair is in the Leverian Museum." Our author describes a variety of this species, which he calls the Peruvian manakin. It is longer than the preceding, especially in the tail, and the upper coverts of it are not truncated at the ends; the wing coverts are not fringed, as in the rock manakin, and the crest is not so well defined as in that bird; the general colour of the plumage inclines much to red; the fe- cond coverts and rump are of an ash colour; the wings and tail are black; the bill and legs are as in the last described. It is an inhabitant of Peru, from whence its name.

2. The next and last species which we shall describe (for it would be impossible to enumerate them all), Mr Latham calls the tuneful manakin. Its length is four inches; the bill is dusky, the forehead yellow, and the crown and nape blue; the chin, sides of the head below the eyes, and the throat, are black; the upper part of the back, the wings, and the tail, are dusky black; the tail is very short; the lower part of the back and rump, the breast, belly, vent, and thighs, are orange coloured; the legs are dusky. It is a native of St Domingo, where it has gained the name of organifle from its note, forming the complete octave in the most agreeable manner, one note successively after another. It is said not to be uncommon, but not easy to be shot, as, like the creeper, it perpetually shifts to the opposite part of the branch from the spectator's eye, so as to elude his vigilance. It is most likely the very bird mentioned by Du Pratz, above quoted, whose notes, he says, are so varied and sweet, and which warbles so tenderly, that those who have heard it value much less the song of the nightingale. It is said to sing for near two hours without once taking breath, and after a respite of about the same time begins again. Du Pratz, who himself has heard it, says that it sung perched on an oak, near the house he was then in.