52 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 9 



almost entirely upon mice, beetles, and other creatures injurious to crops. The 

 birds have been observed flying around arc lights, catching the large insects that 

 are attracted by the glare. These lights form a feeding- ground that is otherwi'-e 

 monopolized by the bats. 



At some time in the month of April, occasionally later, a pair of burrowing 

 owls may be seen sitting contentedly at the mouth of a burrow formerly occupied 

 by some large rodent, and at such times it is safe to assume that housekeeping 

 has begun in that underground home. Possibly, in some cases the former tenant 

 departed rather unexpectedly and through no wish of his own, but in any event 

 the owls are much to be preferred to ground squirrels as neighbors. 



Large quantities of dry, broken-up, horse manure cover the mound at the 

 entrance to one of these humble homes, and a trail of the same material leads 

 down the windings to the underground chamber, where from six to eleven, 

 nearly round, white eggs lie on a thick bed of this apparently indispensable article. 

 Sometimes these nests are scarcely two feet underground, and again twelve 

 feet of tunneling will fail to bring an inquisitive ornithologist to a position where 

 he can examine the cavity ; but it is never too deep to keep out fleas, and a nest 

 that is not conspicuously infested with these pests is exceptional. 



The author and two companions, in an efifort to examine a nest of this bird, 

 once dug horizontally just eighteen feet, but to a depth of only twenty-four 

 inches, and we were rewarded by finding only a single fresh egg. Within two 

 feet of the egg and crawling blindly toward it, was a very young squirrel that 

 had probably, at our approach, taken refuge in the first burrow that it could 

 reach. 



A few of these interesting little owls may still be met within cultivated arc-as, 

 where they nest in waste fields and along roadsides ; but their numbers are 

 limited and it seems only a matter of a few more years until we will be unable 

 to number the Burrowing Owl among the birds of the Fre.sno district. 



Road-runner. Geococcyx califomianus (Lesson). 



Although the favorite haunts of this strange bird are to be found along the 

 rough, brush-covered hills, a few stray birds may be met with from time to time 

 in the vineyards in the most highly cultivated parts of the valley. Until the pres- 

 ent season (1912) I had observed only lone birds in each instance, but this spring 

 several pairs were seen at different places between Fresno and Sanger. 



I have noted Road-runners along the San Joaquin River near Lane's Bridge, 

 and on December 6, 1905, one individual was seen near the New Hope school 

 house north of Wheatville. April 14, 1906, another was observed in the Barton 

 vineyard, east of the city. 



Several times during April and early May of this year I noted single birds 

 or pairs about vineyards in the vicinity oi Lone Star. As the custom of planting 

 fruit or ornamental trees around the farms and along ditch banks has furnished 

 ample concealment, it seems probable that a few pairs may have nested in the 

 valley. 



June II, 1912, a Road-runner was seen to emerge from a row of eucalyptus 

 trees at the roadside. It was immediately pounced upon by a pair of Western 

 Kingbirds, which followed it as it turned, twisted and dodged, running whenever 

 an opportunity was afforded. The angry Kingbirds kept up a continual chatter 



