CACTUS DESERT BIRD-LIFE 



247 



Palmer's Thrasher Cleansing Nest in Cholla 



could not fail to develop facts of unusual interest, and I 

 searched long but unsuccessfully for a nest of this bird of 

 pronounced characteristics. The mounted birds in the 

 photograph of the group, illustrate very well its appear- 

 ance in motion and at rest. The bird in the background, 

 with lowered head and horizontal tail, is running as only a 

 Roadrunner can ; while the one in the foreground represents 

 a pose assumed when the bird's body stops and the tail ap- 

 pears to go on. 



The Roadrunner is not usually credited with much vocal 

 ability, but at times it mounts to a low perch and, with tail 

 drooped like a Thrasher's, utters a low, moaning, peiwasive 



