The LONG-TAILED MANAKIN (_Pipra-Chiroxiphia-caudata_) has a sky-blue
body, with black wings, throat, and tail, only the two centre feathers
of the latter being blue; the brow and top of the head are red. The
females and young are of an uniform greenish hue, shaded with brown upon
the quills and the extremities of the tail-feathers. Both sexes have
dark brown eyes, light reddish brown beaks with very pale margins, and
brownish flesh-red feet. The male is about six inches long and ten broad;
his wing measures two inches and five-sixths, and his tail two and a half
inches. The female is only a few lines smaller than her mate.
The Prince von Wied tells us that he met with this beautiful species
very frequently during his travels through Bahia, and generally found it
associated in small flocks, which took refuge amid the dense foliage of
the trees at the first alarm of danger. We learn from the same author
that during the breeding season they live in pairs, and usually build in
the fork of a branch, at no very considerable height from the ground.
The nest is small, carelessly formed of twigs, blades of grass, wool,
and moss, woven roughly together, and generally contains two large eggs,
with a greyish yellow shell, marked with indistinct spots, and a somewhat
more clearly defined wreath at the broad end. The call-note of the bird
is a loud, clear, piping tone. According to Burmeister, the Long-tailed
Manakin is never seen near the settlements of the colonists.