1916] Bryant: Habits and Food of the Roadrunner 23 
could therefore be obtained. Deputy Webb Toms of San Diego, who 
obtained the largest number of specimens, reported as follows: ‘‘I 
commenced to collect roadrunners April 19, 1912, during which month 
I obtained two. From May 1 to June 16, fifteen were procured. All 
of those which I obtained during the nesting season were taken where 
quail and other birds were nesting.’’ The entire number of birds 
secured should suffice to furnish fairly complete evidence as to the 
food habits of the roadrunner during the nesting season. The alleged 
habit of destroying quail made it necessary to investigate the food 
of the roadrunner in uncultivated districts as well as in those in which 
the species comes in contact with civilization. 
If the food habits of a bird found more abundantly in this state 
were to be considered, a larger number of stomachs would be requisite 
for examination, but the comparative rarity of the roadrunner did 
not justify the killing of more individuals than seemed absolutely 
necessary. 
The material was handled and the same method (percentage- 
volume) used as is described in a previous paper on the economic 
status of the western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) in California 
(H. C. Bryant, 1914, pp. 395-420). As in previous work, the attempt 
has been made to furnish comparable data to all interested by using 
a combination of the European and American methods. The tables 
showing the number of birds taking the different items of food will 
allow British economic ornithologists to compare readily the food 
habits of the roadrunner with those of British birds. On the other 
hand, the use of the percentage-volume method as developed by the 
United States Biological Survey will furnish the data to which 
economic ornithologists in America are accustomed. 
My sincere thanks are due Miss Anna M. Lute of the Bureau of 
Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, for the 
identification of seeds found in the stomachs. Professor Charles W. 
Woodworth and Professor Edwin C. Van Dyke, of the Department 
of Entomology in the University of California, have determined for 
me, or verified the identification of, different species of insects, and 
to them also I desire to make grateful acknowledgement. Mr. Donald 
R. Dickey and Mr. William L. Finley kindly allowed the use of 
excellent photographs, for plates 1 and 2. Mr. Tracy I. Storer, 
Assistant Curator of Birds in the California Museum of Vertebrate 
Zoology, has assisted in making photographs for illustration, and 
Director Joseph Grinnell, of the same Museum, has put at my disposal 
