In the presence and absence of an external interfood clock stimulus (a sequence of flashing lights), rats showed a multimodal behavior pattern during successive quarters of interfood intervals (IF1) ranging from 12 to 192 sec. Responses near the feeder peaked before and just after food presentations, whereas locomotion remote from the feeder peaked toward the middle of the IF1. The temporal patterns of nosing in the feeder and remote locomotion were scalar (the time at which a response peaked in the IF1 was proportional to the IF11ength), whereas the patterns of postfood feeder-directed behavior, rearing, and pawgrooming were time bound (peaking at a fixed time after food, regardless of IF1 length). Responses varied in their control by the external clock stimulus. Duringthe last half of the IF1, rats nosed in the feeder more with an external clock, but only at intermediate IF1s. During the first quarter of the IF1, rats pawgroomed more with an external clock, but only at the longest IF1. The general sequence of responses during the interfood clock was consistent with the view that food delivery engages an organized sequence of search states that are expressed through a variety of responses.