The small Blue-black Grassquit Volatinia jacarina of the tanager family, named onomatopoeically “tiziu” in Portuguese, is a common open country bird to be found all over Brazil. It is a small black bird and has a beautiful bluish sheen to its feathers which sometimes cannot be easily seen. His wife is dapper whitish streaked bird and they both feed on grasslands and have large beaks that must be good for crushing seeds. We found over 20 pairs in one valley by Teresópolis, the Valley of the Tizius, and the males were furiously jumping up and down in the most excitable manner with their ladies in tow looking mostly unconvinced. Apparently it’s a territorial thing and shows that they are in the reproduction period. One can never be bored as they entertain us on our quest for birds.