This bird is especially remarkable for great swiftness of foot, and in fact appears to be almost unrivalled in that respect by any other of our North American species, not even excepting the Grouse, Partridges, or any other of the smaller gallinaceous birds. These, though possessing the ability to run short distances very swiftly, are incapable of sustaining a protracted chase like the present bird. In Mexico, and the adjacent portions of the United States, it is not unusual, as a matter of amusement, to try the speed of our bird by pursuing him on horseback, or by chasing him with dogs, under which severe test of his fleetness, he acquits himself very creditably, and makes, as we shall see presently, a longer race than is usually expected by his pursuer. He evidently possesses both speed and bottom, unrivalled by any fair competition in ornithological pedestrianism, so far as its annals are chronicled, or the present writer’s information on that subject extends. Clothed in plumage of agreeable and unusual colors for a Northern species, and habitually frequenting the ground, walking or running with its long tail carried erect, and assuming a variety of grotesque attitudes, it is not surprising that this bird has attracted the attention of nearly all our naturalists and travellers who have visited its native regions. Through their exertions, it is now to be found in nearly all our museums and private collections, and many facts respecting it have been placed on record. Though terrestrial in its habits, and exhibiting in some degree the manners and habits of the gallinaceous birds (the Pheasants, Partridges, Grouse, &c.), this bird is by no means to be classed in that division of the ornithological kingdom. It is a Cuckoo, and a relative of the celebrated bird of Europe so long known as to have become classic, and of the unobtrusive and plain-plumaged little birds of the United States, of the genus _Coccyzus_, popularly known by the name of Cow-birds, or Rain-birds. Our present bird is a representative of the gallinaceous form, in the family of Cuckoos. Throughout the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and in every division or subdivision of whatever character, five primary groups or forms present themselves. In birds and all their groups, these are: the typical, or bird-like form; the predatory, or rapacious; the gallinaceous, or walking; the grallatorial, or wading; and the natatorial, or swimming form. In the group of Cuckoos, which is quite extensive, and species of which are found in nearly all parts of the world, the bird now before us belongs to the subdivision comprising the gallinaceous or walking Cuckoos, and is a striking example of that peculiar form in the great circle of birds, and of the prevalence of a law which is universal, and not difficult to demonstrate.