382 



NAT URAL HISTORY OF BIIiDS. 



"It is most usually met with u]p<,in o\wn ground, and, as soon as it cliscovers the 

 presence of danger, or the intruder, instantly runs oft', witli remarkable fleetness, to 

 the nearest thicket or hill, where it generally esca])es from its pursuers, either by con- 

 cealment, or a short Hight from one hill to another. If a tree with low l)ranchcs be 

 convenient it will sjiring into that, and, soon reaching the top, will fly off to the dis- 

 tance of an hundred yards or more.- It appears to rise from the level ground with 

 much difficulty. It is very ijiiick in its motions, active, and vigilant ; indeed, its fleet- 



.V 



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2^ 



Fig. 1S4. — Oeococcyx cali/ornianiif, road-runner, clinppnrni cock. 



ncss enables it to elude its pursuers, althoui;h one may be mounteil on a good horse, 

 or a dog may be in the train ; but this is only for a short distance, .as it could soon be 

 run downi by the horse or dog were not some convenient thicket or hill near, from 

 which to take its flight from the latter, or conceal itself among the branches of the 

 former." 



Capt. Charles Bendire, in 1872, collected some twenty nests of the 'chapparal 

 cock,' as the road-runner is often called, "the first nest on April 8, the last on Sej>- 

 tember 10. During the month of April, in which I found several uests, not one con- 



