Road Runner

The roadrunner is a curious bird that lives in the deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico.

It is a slender, brown bird nearly two feet long, about half of which is tail, and has long legs.

As its name tells, the roadrunner prefers to travel by running along the ground and by fast, gliding jumps at speed clocked at 15 miles per hour.

It enjoys racing down a road in front of travelers and presents a comical sight as it sprints along with wings outspread, neck stretched forward and its long tail jerking up and down.  People on foot cannot hope to get ahead of it.

When it tires, the bird abruptly turns aside and disappears in a clump of bushes.

Nicknamed the “snake-killer,” it is more than a match for a rattlesnake.  Its diet includes lizards, mice and insects.  – Dick Rogers