ROADRUNNER 45 



immutilated * * * still in the downy stage, with %-inch pin 

 feathers on the wing — smaller than a domestic chick when hatched." 



S. S. Visher (1910) writing of birds found by him in Pima County, 

 Ariz., tells us that roadrunners "have been seen leaving the nest of 

 Gambel's Quails carrying an egg in their beak." 



That the roadrunner will occasionally capture birds as large as a 

 mockingbird is apparent from several published accounts including 

 that by Robert S. Woods (1927a) who tells us of "an immature but 

 full-grown mockingbird" captured though not actually killed by a 

 roadrunner near Azusa, Calif.; and that by Dr. W. K. Fisher (1904) 

 who reports that a roadrunner was seen to "remove from a nest a 

 young mockingbird and devour it" in Mission Valley, near San Diego, 

 Calif. 



In a letter to A. C. Bent, Mr. Woods (who is quoted above) speaks 

 of a short article written by the late Rev. St. John O'Sullivan, of 

 San Juan Capistrano Mission, "describing a roadrunner's method 

 of killing a swift by lying in wait in a creek-bed near Palm Springs 

 and suddenly springing into the air to knock down one of the birds 

 which passed within its reach." This capturing swifts in air seems 

 perfectly plausible to me, for I recall seeing my captive roadrunners 

 capturing English sparrows in much the same manner. Walking 

 about with a noncommittal air that was comically suggestive of the 

 chickens that fed nearby, they gradually grew nearer to a sparrow, 

 then with a dash to one side and a tremendous leap snatched the 

 fleeing victim from the air. 



A. W. Anthony (1896) tells us of suddenly coming upon a road- 

 runner that had just finished despatching a wood rat (Neotoma). 

 "The bird reluctantly withdrew as I came upon the scene," he writes, 

 "leaving the rat, which I found to be quite dead." 



My own captive birds caught and killed a cotton rat {Sigmodon) 

 that lived in a stone w^all near our house in Fort Worth, Tex. Two 

 or three times a day this rat scurried across a gap in this wall, and 

 the birds came to look upon him as a possible meal. At first his 

 speed and considerable size kept the enemy at a safe distance, but 

 their interest sharpened daily, and eventually they formed the habit 

 of loitering near the runway. One day I heard a squeal of terror 

 and ran up in time to see the bewildered animal running this way 

 and that, trying to escape two lightning-quick demons who never 

 really held him, but pinched him, tossed him, dealt him blows, buf- 

 feted him, made him weary with fighting for life. Over his limp 

 form the roadrunners had an argument. He was heavy. No sooner 

 would one bird start to swallow than the other would be tugging 

 at the hind foot or tail, and down he would drop. I finally cut the 

 rat in two. 



