Sutton, on Road-runner 
9 
watching, hour by hour, but my time was actually so taken up 
with the feeding of the pet bird, and also with school work, that 
this phase of the study was left quite undone. However, I had 
the good fortune to observe one or two Koad-runners each day 
regularly for some time, in the wild state, and of course the 
tame one was the source of a good deal of interest. Aside from 
being a confiding and fearless companion, the bird was extra- 
ordinarily amusing, and one could never know from one hour to 
the next what to expect. This bird has been discussed more or 
less at length in other published notes, and I will not tax the 
reader with further discussion of it here as an individual at 
least, though there are many points well worth discussing. These 
will be taken up in speaking of the two birds secured the 
following year. 
After the period of nesting which according to my observa- 
tions seems to end normally about the last of June, the birds 
are less in evidence than ever. It is extremely doubtful if 
they migrate at all, even for very short distances (compara- 
tively), as it would be absolutely impossible for them to fly 
anywhere; and yet my notes show a marked decrease in the 
number of individuals observed during the winter months. Of 
course, my captive bird seemed to suffer no great hardship, 
since he was regularly attended, and for the most part had 
plenty to eat, but the apparent absence of the wild birds through 
the winter could not but make me wonder what took place. Of 
course occasional individuals were seen from time to time 
throughout the year but such is sometimes the case with Meadow- 
larks, and other species in the north — birds which are regularly 
migrants. This point, it seems to me, is open for settlement. 
At any rate, in April of 1914 the birds once more became 
evident and even more so than in the previous year, perhaps 
partly because I was better acquainted with their habits. On 
April 29, after searching the surrounding territory for about two 
weeks, I found a nest containing five young and one egg in a small 
clump of trees which I had passed regularly for several days. 
The nest was a well-made one for this species, and was placed in 
a thick tangle of wild grape vines, above a brush-pile thickly 
overgrown with weeds, grass, and a patch of cactus. From this 
nest I took the two oldest birds, intent upon raising them, since 
I had succeeded so well with last year’s bird. One of them 
looked a trifle sick, and refused to squeal for food, so I naturally 
wondered what was the matter. The problem was solved, how- 
