January, 1882.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



85 



Road-runner. 



Mr. E. A. Small's mention of the Road- 

 runner, in the November number of the 

 O. and O., reminds me that I have, since 

 writing what I did in the March number, 

 learned several things about that bird that 

 I did not then know. At that time one 

 season's observation was the limit to my 

 experience with it; but during the season 

 of 1 88 1, though not particularly fortunate 

 n finding many nests myself, yet Mr. Fred. 

 Corey, of Santa Paula, Cal., who was my 

 almost constant companion on all oological 

 tramps, was especially fortunate in finding 

 numerous nests of Geococcyx. As many as 

 eight nests were examined by us, and we 

 were both greatly surprised to learn that 

 the " sets" were so large. Five to six eggs 

 seemed to be the usual number, but nests 

 were found containing seven, eight, and in 

 one case nine eggs. A majority of these 

 nests were found before the bird had com- 

 pleted oviposition, and in almost every in- 

 stance the eggs were not taken until we 

 were reasonably certain that laying was 

 completed. By so doing we learned, first, 

 that the eggs are deposited one on each al- 

 ternate day ; second, that the bird begins 

 incubation soon after the first egg is laid — 

 in every instance long before oviposition 

 has ceased. When we came to blow the 

 eggs we found them in all stages of incu- 

 bation, from embryos nearly ready to leave 

 the shell, down through various stages of 

 embryotic change, to one or two fresh or 

 nearly fresh eggs. 



The facts stated by me in the March 

 O. and O. as facts are facts. Whether the 

 two much incubated eggs, found May i6th, 

 were all that had been laid in that set, or 

 whether a portion of the set had been de- 

 stroyed, I am unable to say. The other set 

 mentioned in the same article is as perplex- 

 ing. How there happened to be two near- 

 ly fully fledged young and two fresh eggs 

 is hard to understand. 



In this connection I might mention a 

 peculiar belief which obtains to some ex- 

 tent among Californians, viz; that the 



Road-runner, soon after the young leave 

 the shell, lays other eggs for them to feed 

 upon. This belief proves at least one 

 thing, that it is a common thing -to find 

 both young and eggs in the same nest. 



In Baird, Brewer and Ridgway's Birds 

 of North America is the following: "They 

 (Road-runners) build a clumsy nest of 

 mesquit twigs placed at some height on a 

 bough or in a hollow tree, and lay from two 

 to four pure white eggs." Also, eggs were 

 found near San Antonio, Texas, in April, 

 May, and as late as the 23d of September. 



Several things in this need verifying 

 slightly. First, the make-up of the nest 

 depends of course upon locality; second, 

 the position also depends upon the same. 

 In the vicinity of Santa Paula, a vast ma- 

 jority are built in bunches of cactus, usual- 

 ly not over three to five feet from the 

 ground. We found one nest in an orange 

 tree, four feet up, and one in an alder 

 bush, seven feet up. Third, none of the 

 eggs were pure white, but all a dirty white. 



Taking all these facts into consideration, 

 it would seem that the Road-runner is a 

 very '' uncertain quantity" as regards her 

 breeding habits. — B. W Evennan. 



[Geo. B. Sennett, in his ornithology of 

 the Rio Grande, gives a very lengthy de- 

 scription of the nesting habits of this bird, 

 which confirms the above statement as to 

 the number of eggs and their condition 

 during incubation, &c. In his report of 

 the expedition of 1877, he states the color 

 of eggs to be '''pure white.'' In the report of 

 1878 he says: " Their color is opaque xvhitey 

 We should be pleased to hear from Mr. 

 Sennett and place on record his decision, 

 of which statement is correct. — Ed.] 



Auburn, N. Y. — We are happy to an- 

 nounce to our ornithological friends that 

 H. Gilbert Fowler, of Auburn, N. Y., has 

 just started on a collecting trip to the lower 

 Mississippi. His object is to collect gen- 

 erally, but particularly that rare and beauti- 

 ful species, the Ivory- billed Woodpecker. 

 As Mr. Fowler makes a very fine skin, 

 watch carefully for his return.—^. S. Wright. 



