NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 205 



United States by Mr. George B. Sennett, who shot an adult male on 

 May 19, 1878, at Lomita Ranch, on the Rio Grande, which is seven 

 miles above Hidalgo. 



The eggs of this species are said to range from five to eight, usually 

 five in number, and of the same color as those of the last species. No 

 peculiarity seems to be noted in the nesting of this species ; no mention 

 is made of eggs being laid in one nest by several females, as is the case 

 with C. ani^ and we would naturally expect the breeding habits of both 

 species belonging to the same genus to be very much similar. Col. 

 Grayson states that the nest is usually built in a thorny tree or bush, 

 at a moderate height, and composed of thorns and dry twigs exteriorly, 

 and lined with fibrous roots. He describes the eggs on the outside of 

 the shell as rough and white, the inside green. The birds, he remarks, 

 associate in small flocks of eight or ten, and are fond of picking ticks 

 off the cattle.* 



385. Geococcyx californianus (Less.) [385.] 



Road-ruuuer. 



Hab. Texas, New Mexico, north to Western Indian Territory and Kansas; Southern Colorado, west- 

 ward to California; Lower California; south into Mexico. 



The Ground Cuckoo, Snake Killer or Paisano, as it is differently 

 called, is a curious long-tailed, chicken-like bird, noted for its swiftness 

 of foot. It is found in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California 

 southward. In Southern California, Mr. Shields states that this bird is 

 abundant in the chapparal and sage bush regions. Its favorite food 

 consists of small lizards and snakes. It nests in low trees, usually in 

 the low branches of a cactus or in a thorny bush. A nest before me, 

 collected in Lee county, Texas, by J. A. Singley, is a coarse structure 

 made of sticks. It was placed in a haw bush about eight feet from the 

 ground. The structure is thick and clumsy, with but a slight depres- 

 sion for the eggs. The latter are deposited at intervals of several days, 

 and a perfectly fresh q.^% is often found with one on the point of hatch- 

 ing ; or young birds of various sizes with partially incubated eggs in 

 the same nest is of common occurrence. Mr. Shields found eggs as 

 early as the last of March, and as late as the middle of June. Most of 

 the eggs obtained by Mr. Sennett in Southern Texas were deposited in 

 April. From two to twelve are laid, commonly five to nine ; the gen- 

 eral shape is ovate and the color white or buffy-white. Six selected 

 specimens measure 1.56x1.20, 1.51x1.23, 1.60x1.18, 1.50x1.17, 1.57 x 

 1. 14, 1.56x1.23, 1.58x1.19, 1.61XI.14. 



* Lawrence's Birds of Western and Northwestern Mexico: p. 292. 



