The CHAPARRAL COCK, with its ruf and coarse plumage, is the most striking and wary bird of the southwest cactus belt. Curiosity seldom overcomes shyness altho sometimes one will "freeze" upright and become part of the adjacent chollas. Travelers in the arid country they frequent will often see a dim form slipping silently along one side of the road. They are capable of sustained running speed of twenty-five miles per hour!
Young birds are fed lizards of such length that the tails hang out of the youngsters' mouths while digestion slowly absorbs the bodies! They attack and kill snakes and have no fear of the deadly rattlers.
California, Colorado, Kansas, western and middle Texas, chiefly within the cactus area.