The Coconino sun. (Flagstaff, Ariz.) 1898-1978, 1916-11-17
SAYS THE R0AORUNNER IS
FRIEND NOT MANS ENEMY

deemed. Inc r0adrunner, one OF the
queerest and most interesting of the
birds in California, has now been de-
clared by the University of California
to be a friend and not an enemy Of
man.
This picturesque bird, which can
run as fast as horse, has in the past
been accused of destroying the eggs
and young Of the quail. DIR. Harold
C. Bryant, economic ornithologist Of
the University of California museum
of vertebrate zoology, tells in an il
Illustrated paper on Habits and Food
of the Roadrunner in California" just
published by the university, how he
has rescued the reputation of the
roadrunner.
Eighty-four stomachs of roadrun-
ners were collected in Southern Calf
fornia during eleven different months
for the California fish and game COM
mission, and the contents examined
by DR.. Bryant. The search, and ex-
tensive inquiry, failed to find and evil
dence that the roadrunner destroys
the eggs of other birds. 1t was found
that 80 per cent of the contents of
these eighty-four stomachs was in
sects and other animal matter, and
only 10 per cent vegetable material,
nearly all of that being fruit and
seeds Of the "sour-bery," with some
cactus seeds. Grasshoppers and crick-
cts made up 81 per cent of the food,
beetles IS, and cut-worms and cater
pillars per cent, and there were
lesser quantities of cicadas, ants, bees
and wasps, while scorpions made
nearly per cent of the food. Spiders,
tarantulas, and centipedes too had
been devoured. e.
1t takes nearly two quarts of food
a week to satisfy roadrunnner's APP
petite. Here is what DIR. Bryant found
in the stomach of single bird: Two
sumac seeds and one other seed, two
blades of grass, seventeen beetles of
four different species, eight wire
worms, twelve grasshoppers, one po-
tato bug, nine other bugs of two spe-
cies, spider egg-case, scorpion and
a lizard
Astonish Nfeats of swallowing are
performed by the roadrunner. 1t de-
stroys more hairy caterpillars than
any other California bird--even the
wollybear caterpillar, which few other
birds will tackle. One roadrunner was
found which had swallowed horned
toad an inch wide, another whose
stomach contained four full-sized
whip-tailed lizards. One taken in
Arizona contained a great snake
twenty inches long, and California
roadrunner several rattlesnakes. With
this highly spiced diet, the roadrun-
ner seems to need little water, thriv-
ing on the hottest deserts and in cap
tivity rarely drinking more than twice
week, and never taking bath
except in dust. FB
A thorny shrub or a cactus is the
home selected by the roadrunner for
it's nest, and it hops nimbly from
limb to limb Of its thorny fortress.
Husband and wife take turns covering
the eggs. From three to nine eggs
are laid, at intervals Of several days,
J but incubation begins when the first
! eggs are laid. William L. Finley, the
naturalist, a graduate Of the Univer-
, sity Of California in 1908, and his
J wife, we'll known writer's on bird life,
} describe a single nest in Arizona
which contained one fresh egg, one
egg just ready to hatch, two feather
less, greasy, black and hidous young
! roadrunners, and two young ones
about ready to leave the nest.
Most Of the California roadrunners
, dwell in desert regions, far from the
haunts Of man. While many song
birds have range of but few acres,
the roadrunner has a range Of many
miles. DR.. Bryant thinks that the
roadrunners in California are COM
, paratively few in number, and even
iii desert regions, where they are
most abundant, do not exceed ten or
} twelve to the square mile. In early
days in California the bird was often
kept about the house and garden and
used as a destroyer Of insects and
mice, and people found it most
amusing and interesting pet
at is to the interest Of every citi-
zen of California" concludes DR..
! Bryant, "to protect carefully this
, most curious and interesting bird"
| Arizona has law protecting these
birds.