134 
Messrs. Sclater and Salvin on the 
the road from Izabal to Guatemala, the latter being about eleven 
leagues from the capital, my attention was called by one of my 
companions to a bird he had just seen cross the road. The 
underwood was very dense at that part, and I had great diffi¬ 
culty at first in catching a glimpse of the bird ; and when I suc¬ 
ceeded, its distance from me was so short that I for some time 
hesitated to shoot, my gun being loaded with No. 6 only. See¬ 
ing no prospect of a better shot, I at last fired, and reduced my 
specimen to a mangled mass, which I was only just able to make 
into a very indifferent skin. 
“ As the time between my first seeing the bird and shooting it 
occupied some minutes, I was enabled to watch it closely. Its 
habits assimilate to those of the Geococcyx ajfinis , and it skulks 
along the ground as that species does, now running rapidly, now 
standing still with its head erect. But it differed from G. af- 
finis in climbing about the branches of the low underwood. The 
song of this Cuckoo, though short, is peculiarly rich in its tone, 
and there is a mellowness in each note that I have seldom heard 
surpassed. An Indian to whom I showed it at Laguna called 
it ( El reloz/ or f The watch ,’ and said that it sang at every hour 
of the day, the length of the song depending upon the hour; 
thus, he said, that at 1 o’clock it sang a very short song, and at 
12 o’clock a very long one ! Another Indian called it 1 El pa- 
jar o tonto/ or f The foolish bird/ a name strictly applicable, as I 
could have almost caught the one I shot with my hand.” 
The principal colour of the bare skin at the back of the eye 
is almost cobalt-blue; the legs are brownish yellow, and the 
irides dark. 
226. Geococcyx affinis, Hartl. Rev. Zool. 1844, p. 215. 
This Cuckoo is abundant all over the Central region, and 
also occurs, though sparingly, in the Atlantic coast-region. 
The habits of this curious bird, especially in the way it runs, 
remind one much of the large lizard commonly known in Gua¬ 
temala as the “ Iguana .” It passes rapidly across the road, as 
that reptile does, first peering out of the underwood before 
making a rush, and now and then stopping, just before diving- 
in again, to take a final survey. The bird is by no means shy, 
often remaining quite still by the side of a path, looking at you 
