CUCKOO FAMILY 



127 



buffy-white ; inner webs of lateral tail-feathers, pale 

 gray on (inder surface in front of the white tip ; bill, 

 dusky horn color ; iris, golden yellow to orange ; bare 

 eye space around blue in front passing into bluish-white 

 beneath and behind eye, the rear portion orange-red ; 

 legs and feet, pale bluish, the large scales of leg pale 

 yellowish or cream color margined with pale bluish. 

 Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Usually in cacti, mesquite. 



sage brush, or thorny bushes ; a large coarse structure 

 01 sticks, lined with grass, feathers, strips of bark, 

 snake skin, or rootlets, with slight depression. Kggs : 

 4 to 6 usually, but sometimes 2 or 12, chalky white or 

 pale yellowish. 



Distribution. — California, Colorado, Kansas, and 

 western and middle Texas, south through Lower Cali- 

 iornia and the table-land of Mexico to Puebla. 



The Road-nmner is one of the most striking 

 characters of the cactus belt of the Soiilliwest. 

 When we first went to Tucson, Arizona, we were 

 anxious to find a Road-runner. Day after day, 

 we searched throujifh the cactus and kept our 

 eyes open. We found several old nests and occa- 

 sionally we would catch a glimpse of a slim, 

 long-tailed bird running through the cactus. One 

 day when we least expected it, a Road-runner 



,'ind ready to leave home. This certainly verified 

 the statement of Elliott Coues : " Perfectly 

 fresh eggs and newly hatched young may be 

 found together, and by the time the last young 

 are breaking the shell, the others may be graded 

 up to half the size of the adult." 



I have occasionally seen an old Road-runner 

 that takes a delight in out-distancing a team of 

 horses, but sometimes a Road-runner is not ac- 



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ROAD-RUNNER 



slid across the road, hopped up into a choUa 

 cactus and was instantly lost to sight in the 

 thorny mass. W'e drove around the bush slowly, 

 once, twice, closer and closer till we could see 

 through the tangle. But no Road-runner! She 

 had disappeared, and yet she could hardlv have 

 escaped without our seeing her. A slight move- 

 ment in the cactus — there she was, sitting bolt 

 ujiright holding a lizard in her bill. Until she 

 moved, she was as completely hidden as if she 

 had not been there. 



In this nest were one fresh egg, one (t^g just 

 ready to hatch, two featherless black-skinned 

 young birds, and two young ones about grown 



customed to our modern method of traveling. 

 One day a friend was spinning down the Oracle 

 Road in his automobile when, at the turn, a 

 Road-runner dropped into line ahead and set the 

 pace down the smooth stretch. The driver turned 

 on a little more gasoline. The Road-runner 

 looked over his tail at the horseless carriage. 

 It was gaining on him ! As the machine bore 

 down on the astonished bird, the feathered racer 

 was scared. He cocked his tail suddenly to put 

 on the brake, made a sharp turn to the left, 

 dodged through the cactus and creosote and 

 away he went at top speed as far as he could be 

 seen. 



