142 



THE OOLOGIST 



from our place was placed so advant- 

 ageously for observation, that it was 

 under my notice for several days. On 

 April 29 this nest contained six rath- 

 er well developed young, and two in- 

 fertile eggs. The nest was fully one 

 foot deep and a foot and a half in di- 

 ameter. It was placed 8 feet up, in a 

 grape vine tangle. Unlike the young- 

 sters in nest No. 1 these birds were 

 sullen and resented being touched. 

 The others were very amiable crea- 

 tures and seemed to enjoy the sensa- 

 tion of being petted. The birds in 

 Nest No. 4 were sleek and well fed 

 while those in Nest No. 1, were abso- 

 lutely unable to be satisfied. How- 

 ever, the birds in the last nest attract- 

 ed me most, and I took two of them 

 home with me, much to their displeas- 

 ure. 



Adult road runners are curious 

 enough but the young ones are more 

 so. Their mouths were blood red, 

 while their eyes were surrounded by 

 pale blue, naked, skin. Their black 

 skinned bodies were covered scanti- 

 ly with pin feathers, — some bursted, — 

 and long, coarse white hairs. The 

 feathers grew very rapidly and the 

 hairs dropped off as the birds develop- 

 ed. The longer I kept them the more 

 their sullenness seemed to leave them 

 and they pleased me greatly by clap- 

 ping their mandibles together. As the 

 birds grew to know me, they became 

 fearless and hungry. They would rush 

 savagely at me, wings extended, and 

 flapping mouths open, and demand 

 food without delay. From the very 

 first, the size of the mouthful did not 

 concern them nearly so much as how 

 quickly they could get it disposed of 

 It was some weeks before they could 

 really run, and I was quite often im- 

 patient to test their speed. From the 

 first they enjoyed a very varied diet, — 

 horned frogs, sparrows, snakes, liz- 

 ards, meat and even beetles, Until 



May 16 or IT, they did not pick up any- 

 thing for themselves, but after that, 

 they picked up almost everything, 

 which they found loose. A little lat- 

 er I took them walking with me. In 

 a road, near our house, we would walk 

 u]) and down together, the birds al- 

 ways being glad to rest every time 1 

 would stop. The boys who knew us, 

 frequently went walking too, and a 

 very interesting observation was 

 made. A friend of mine and I lay 

 down upon the road, and the birds 

 promptly seated themselves on me. 

 My companion then happened to i)Ut 

 his head on his hand, when immediate- 

 ly the birds went to him. I then sat 

 u]), — they came to my shoulders, and 

 when he stood up they went to him. 

 This shows the birds' love for a high 

 place. They would scan the skies and 

 follow constantly with their eyes, a 

 turkey vulture or hawk which was fly- 

 ing past. As yet they have never cap- 

 tured a lizard, or snake for themselves, 

 but tiny tree-toads, beetles, caterjiil- 

 lares, moths and frogs are all subject 

 to their fatal attacks. 



George Miksch Sutton. 



Books Received. 



DIRECTIONS FOR PREPARING 

 SPECIMENS of MAMMALS, BIRDS, 

 FISH AND REPTILES, by Stanley O. 

 .lewett 



Published by Oregon Fish & Game 

 Commission. 



This is a splendid little L'O page re- 

 sume of the subject treated, accom- 

 panied by illuminative illustrations 

 and coming from a man with such ex- 

 tended field experience, is an addition 

 to the literature on this subject, and 

 of convenient size and shape to be 

 carried into the field. 



THE EMU, Vol. XIIT, Part IT, Octo- 

 ber 1, 1913. 



This issue of The Emu gives a de- 

 scription of a "Commonwealth Collec- 



