THE ROAD RUNNER. 



( Geococcyx calif on, iinus. ) 



The range of the Road-runner is very 

 restricted and includes the southwestern 

 United States from Texas to the Pacific 

 Ocean. It is also a native of the larger 

 part of Mexico, and it is found as far 

 northward as southern Utah. It is prac- 

 tically a resident of all but the northern 

 portion of its range. 



This peculiar bird has several com- 

 mon names, all more or less suggestive 

 of its habits. Some of the more striking 

 of these common names are the Ground 

 Cuckoo, the Chaparral Cock, the Lizard 

 Bird and the Snake-killer. The name 

 Road-runner was given this bird because 

 of its terrestrial habits and the rapidity 

 with which it moves over the ground, 

 where it spends much of its life search- 

 ing for its food. _ This consists of in- 

 sects, snakes, lizards, snails, worms and 

 even small rodents and young birds. It 

 destroys vast numbers of grasshoppers 

 and beetles, and one observer states that 

 he found in the stomach of one a garter 

 snake that was fully twenty inches long. 



Major Charles Bendire has given the 

 following excellent account of his obser- 

 vations of the habits of this species : 

 "Road-runners are ordinarily rather shy 

 and suspicious birds, and not as often 

 seen as one would think, even where 

 comparatively common. Within the 

 United States they are most abundant 

 along the southern borders of Texas and 

 Arizona, and in southern California. Not- 

 Avithstanding their natural shyness, they 

 are inquisitive birds, and where they 

 are not constantly chased and molested 

 will soon become used to man. One of 

 these birds paid frequent visits to my 

 camp, often perching on a mesquite 

 stump for half an hour at a time within 

 twenty yards of my tent. While so 

 perched it would usually keep up a con- 

 tinuous cooing, not unlike that of the 

 mourning dove, varied now and then bv 



a cackle resembling that of a domestic 

 hen when calling her brood's attention 

 to some choice morsel of food. This call 

 sounded like 'dack, dack, dack,' a number 

 of times repeated. Another peculiar 

 sound was sometimes produced by snap- 

 ping its mandibles rapidly together. 

 While uttering these notes its long tail 

 was almost constantly in motion and 

 partly expanded, and its short wings 

 slightly drooped. In walking about at 

 ease the tail is somewhat raised and the 

 neck partly contracted. When suddenly 

 alarmed the feathers of the body are com- 

 pressed and it trusts almost entirely to 

 ' its legs for escape, running surprisingly 

 fast. While running it can readily keep 

 out of the way of a horse on a fair gallop 

 on comparatively open ground, and 

 should the pursuer gain too much on the 

 bird it suddenly doubles on its course 

 and takes advantage of any thickets or 

 broken ground in the vicinity, and is soon 

 lost to sight. Its flight is apparently 

 easy, and, considering its short wings, 

 is rather swift." 



The fleetness of the Road-runner is 

 shown by the statement of an eye-wit- 

 ness, who, when in southern California, 

 saw one of these birds chased by ranch- 

 men for a distance of a mile or more at 

 a high speed, when the bird, though still 

 in advance, quickly stopped and flew to 

 the branches of a low tree, apparently 

 in an exhausted condition. Though re- 

 lated to the cuckoos, it resembles the 

 pheasants because of its terrestrial habits. 



The Road-runner usually nests in 

 rather low trees or bushes and occasion- 

 ally in the hollow of a dead stump. The 

 nest is usually placed where it is well 

 concealed from view, and it has been 

 known to appropriate the nests of other 

 birds. The body of the nest is usually 

 constructed with small sticks or twigs 

 and lined with finer twigs and dry 



