132 WESTERN SERIES OF READERS. 



Road-runner wears a beautiful crest on his 

 head, and as he stands on tiptoe a few rods ahead 

 of you in that desolate canon road, you think him 

 the finest bird you have ever seen. You would 

 rather catch him than get home in time for 

 supper. But it takes a genius to catch a road- 

 runner. They have been caught, however, and 

 tamed. In homes that are built on the road-run- 

 ner's border-land, the bird has been seen in 

 chicken-houses, hunting spiders among the roosts. 

 It eats like a chicken and nests like a hen, and 

 lays nearly as many white eggs. 



There is no telling how many eggs a hen road- 

 runner does lay for a setting, for in the same nest 

 are found fresh eggs and young birds just ready 

 for their first run. The nests are coarse, like 

 biddy hen's, in low bushes just above the ground. 

 What cares mother road-runner if a snake makes 

 up its mind to pay her a visit, and ask how it 

 fares with her large family? She is a match for 

 any snake, and stops not to ask questions when 

 one is in her path. As for lizards, they are her 

 delight. She comes upon one of these numerous 

 neighbors of hers basking in the sun on an arroyo 

 rock and that identical lizard is never seen any 

 more. The road-runner's long, strong beak was 

 formed on purpose to capture snakes and lizards, 



