With that ability and courtesy which has added so much to the interest of the present volume, Col. McCall has furnished the following for our article on this interesting bird:— “This very gallant-looking and spirited bird I saw, for the first time within our territory, in the extensive forest of _chaparral_ which envelopes the _Resaca de la Palma_, a stream rendered famous in the history of our country by the victory achieved by the American forces under Gen. Taylor. Here, and for miles along the lower Rio Grande, the _poliocephala_ was abundant; and throughout this region, the remarkable and sonorous cry of the male bird could not fail to attract and fix the attention of the most obtuse or listless wanderer who might chance to approach its abode. “By the Mexicans it is called _Chiac-chia-lacca_, an Indian name, and doubtlessly derived from the peculiar cry of the bird, which strikingly resembles a repetition of those syllables. And when I assure you that its voice in compass is equal to that of the Guinea-fowl, and in harshness but little inferior, you may form some idea of the chorus with which the forest is made to ring at the hour of sunrise. At that hour, in the month of April, I have observed a proud and stately fellow descend from the tree on which he had roosted, and mounting upon an old log or stump, commence his clear shrill cry. This was soon responded to, in a lower tone, by the female, the latter always taking up the strain as soon as the importunate call of her mate had ceased. “Thus alternating, one pair after another would join in the matinal chorus, and before the rising sun had fairly lighted up their close retreat, the woods would ring with the din of an hundred voices, as the happy couples met after the period of separation and repose. “When at length all this clatter had terminated, the parties quietly betook themselves to their morning-meal. If surprised while thus employed, they would fly into the trees above, whence, peering down with stretched necks and heads turned sideways to the ground, they would challenge the intruder with a singular and oft-repeated croaking note, of which it would be difficult to give any adequate idea with words alone.