ORNITHOLOGISTS + AND ++ OOLOGISTS’ 
SEMI-ANNUAL. 
VOL. 2. JANUARY, 1800. NO. 1. 
FLOATING FEATHERS FROM THE WEST. 
BY CHAS. A. KEELER, BERKELEY, CAL. 
To the eastern observer, one of the most striking features of 
western bird life is the resemblance existing between the species 
found here and those in the east. We have our Western Robin, 
two Thrushes, Western Golden-crowned Kinglet, California 
Song Sparrow, Audubon’s Warbler, Western Meadowlark and 
a host of other birds more or less closely connected with corre- 
sponding eastern species. It is the purpose of the present article, 
however, to briefly consider a few birds found in California which 
have no eastern counterparts. : 
A few days since, I accosted a gunner returning home from a 
day’s hunt, to know what he had shot. He told me the only bird 
he had killed was a kind of a ‘*Yellow Hammer.” On asking to 
examine it, he produced a Road Runner from one of his coat 
pockets. It had been too badly damaged to stuff; but I pur- 
chased it of him for the sake of the skeleton. This is the third 
time I have recorded this species near Berkeley, as the bird is 
quite rare as far north as this. 
Although a cuckoo in general form and in habits, this species 
is strikingly different from the rest of the genus. Long and slen- 
der in form, with lengthened tail and legs, the Road Runner is 
peculiarly adapted for rapid and long-sustained running, and can 
easily outstrip a horse. Its actions are rather grotesque as it runs 
and hops, with its iridescent tail now elevated and now lowered ; 
but it is necessary to look quickly or the bird will escape you in 
