The Diurnal Activity of the Roadrunner, Geococcyx Californianus

short distances and at low altitudes. Females, on the other hand, were usually in the upper extremities of the trees and made longer flights. Males and females appeared to forage in the same way, and uncommonly did feed close together. Probing and peering were the primary means of food searching, although the birds tapped the trunk and larger limbs as they moved along them. Birds of both sexes scratched bark from the trunk with the feet, using both feet simultaneously. I also saw a male scratch bark loose with one foot while retaining his grasp to the tree with the other. On one occasion a male flew vertically up from branch to branch, several feet away from the trunk. Both sexes often foraged upside down on small limbs. These observations, like those of Davis (Auk 82:548, 1965), indicate that searching for food is primarily by means other than vigorous hammering or drilling. The birds foraged primarily on pines, but also visited oaks. Of 25 consecutive trees in which a foraging male was observed, three were small or mediumsized oaks and the rest were pines. Hairy Woodpeckers (D. oil20sus) were common in this area, but the two species appeared to take no notice of each other. On several occasions individuals of both species were seen in the same tree.