132 
THE CONDOR 
VOL. V 
FROM FIELD AND STUDY 
The Home of the California Road-runner. — On March 25th, 1903, one of the boys, a 
student in my Commercial School, told me of a road-runner’s nest in Cholla Valley, and after 
school hours we started out to take a picture of the nest and to take the eggs. 
After a walk of about two 
miles we arrived at the rustic 
abode, and found Mrs. Geo- 
coccyx Californianus at 
home, but she was somewhat 
shy and did not wish to have 
her picture taken, so we had 
to be satisfied with one of 
her nest and eggs, which are 
shown in the accompanying 
illustration. 
The nest was a rather com- 
pact one, made of small 
weeds and twigs, carefully 
laid and woven among the 
branches of the “cholla” or 
“devil cactus” so common 
in Southern California. The 
outside diameter was about 
eleven inches, while the 
saucer shaped interior was 
NEST OF ROAD-RUNNER 
about one and one-half in- 
ches in depth and six inches 
in diameter. The eggs, four in number, and nearly white, measured 41 mm. in length by 30 mm. in 
diameter. 
This wise little bird has a strange habit of building among the protecting thorns of the devil 
YOUNG ROAD-RUNNERS 
cactus, among whose thousand sharp points the old bird runs with apparent impunity, while the 
bristling spines keep out many an enemy and many an inquisitive visitor. In fact the thorny 
beds of cactus seem to be the favorite resort of the road-runner, and in the spring she may often 
