164 TEXAS AND ARIZONA 



as life." Mr. Fuertes's drawing had stepped out 

 of the book. I could have shouted with pleasure. 



The bird was true to his name. There was no 

 road, to be sure, but he knew what was expected 

 of him, and started off at once at a lively trot ; 

 then, within ten or fifteen feet, he stopped short, 

 lifted his ridiculously long tail till it stood at 

 right angles with his body, the white " thumb- 

 marks" at the ends of the feathers making a 

 brave show, in spite of the almost indecent absurd- 

 ity of his attitude, and after a moment started 

 on again. Two or three times he repeated these 

 manoeuvres ; and then, without my knowing how 

 he did it, he escaped me altogether, although the 

 bit of shrubbery into which he had vanished was 

 only a few feet in diameter. " Never mind," I 

 thought, " I have seen him." And he was every 

 whit as oddly behaved a piece as my fancy had 

 painted him. 



The road-runner, it should be said, is an over- 

 grown member of the cuckoo family. Its length 

 from the tip of its bill to the end of its tail is 

 about two feet. It wears what may be described 

 as a frightened-looking crest, its plumage is con- 

 spicuously mottled, and, what gives it its special 

 character, its tail is a foot long. As Mrs. Bailey 

 well says, it is " one of the most original and 

 entertaining of Western birds. The newcomer 



