Sutton, on Road-runner 
15 
the weeds, stalking grasshoppers, their most formidable quarry 
thus far. I should judge, from the quantities of grassliO])pers 
I saw the birds eat, that these insects form a large part of the 
food of the adult iii the wild state in this part of the State of 
Texas. They ate them literally from moriiiug to night, and eyeu 
after swallowing such food as mice and lizards till they should 
have been full, there was ap})areutly always room for one more 
grasshopper. The birds first captured the uym])h grasshoppers 
and the large Ayiugless forms (Tenaocerus) Ayhicli were yery com- 
mon in the yard, and especially in the road in front of the house. 
From the yery first the clicking noise of a large, green caye 
cricket {Stipator) attracted the attention of the birds, and 
whenever they heard the noise they at once loAvered their heads, 
and sneaked toward it. It was some time before tliey succeeded 
in capturing this variety, and a still longer time till they caught 
the large, showy, yelloAV^ and coral-AA inged felloAvs {Pseudo- 
trimerotropis and Pardalopliora) along the road. Usually the 
small grasshop])ers Avere merely picked up and SAvallowed, Avith- 
out so much as a second pinch from the mandibles, but the 
larger long-Avinged varieties Avere beaten on a stone or on the 
ground considerably before being SAvalloAved. It Avas interesting 
to Avatch them stalking the big fiyers. Having Avatclied a grass- 
hopper settle on the ground after a fiight, the bird sneaked up 
usually from the rear, and rushing in Avith Avings and tail spread, 
startled tlie grassliopper, Avhich Avas thereu])on captured by 
the bird in the air, sometimes as much as four or five feet from 
the ground. I have seen the birds pass l)y many ])erfectly ob- 
vious Avingiess grasslioi)pers, intent upon the larger flying ones, 
apparently for the pure fun of catching them ; and it is no 
Avonder, in a Avay, for the bird is very graceful about it. A Avidely 
ranging species of black-winged grasshopper {Dlssosteira Caro- 
lina) , Avhich sometimes made a rather loud noise in its courtship 
flight, Avas alAvays difficult to capture for some reason, and many 
of them got aAvay entirely. Sometimes a big grasshopper, fright- 
ened by the bird, flew so high that the Koad-runner refused to 
leap for him, in Avhich case the bird ran nimbly along under him, 
merely Avaiting for him to descend. Thus liaA^e I seen a Koad- 
runner i^ursue a grasshopper for a hundred yards or more. 
Hoav different from the tactics of a liaAvk; in fact quite the 
reverse. 
The teeming prairies offered abundant food for the pet birds, 
Avhich spent most of the day running at large about the house, 
