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Bird - Lore 



cotton-woods flashed Tanagers, Pyrrhu- 

 loxias, I'hainopeplas, Crissal Thrashers, 

 Mockingbirds, Abert's Towhees, White- 

 winged Doves, and Road-runners — al- 

 ways Road- r u n ne rs— ^and more — and 

 more — coming, going, an undertone of 

 bird-life, teeming, humming in the heart 

 of the landscape. And they said the 

 desert was desolate, dead! 



The Road-runner is the shyest and 

 wariest bird in the desert. Each day, as 

 we went out, we wanted to find a Road- 



bird lolling ofif yonder under his cactus 

 would lead me to his home. 



My eye became fixed on a darker spot 

 in the heart of a cholla cactus ahead. 

 Something moved. Gradually I made out 

 a rough hulk of a nest, about a foot across, 

 with a Road-runner sitting on it as still 

 as death. Her tail was pushed straight 

 up in the air by an obstructing cactus. 

 It was a great find for us, and in the days 

 that followed we became well acquainted 

 with her and her family. Gradually she 



"HER MOVEMENTS WERE SMOOTH AND CAT-LIKE" 



runner at home; always we were hunting 

 for one. Plenty of Road-runners' nests 

 we found, but none with eggs or young. 

 For days we had hunted through the 

 cactus on all sides of the town, driving in 

 and out among the prickly brush, and off 

 across the mesa, far from any road. 



Frequently we caught glimpses of the 

 fleeting shadows. One day, as we ambled 

 along, something under a bunch of cactus 

 caught our eye. A Road-runner was 

 standing stiff and straight, watching us, 

 thinking he could not possibly be seen if 

 he froze. We were Argus-eyed for a 

 Road-runner's nest as usual. Perhaps the 



became accustomed to the umbrella- 

 blind, which we erected near the nest. 



In this nest was one fresh egg, one egg 

 just ready to hatch, two featherless, 

 greasy, black young, and two young ones 

 about grown and ready to leave home. 

 This certainly verified the statement of 

 Rlliott 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." 



One day we were sitting, cramped and 

 sweltering, in the blind, waiting for the 

 mother to come and feed. Her returns 



