INSECT-CATCHING BIRDS. 159 



Here I first saw the Fox Sparrow (Passeretta 

 Townsendii, Nuttall). This sparrow is not, how- 

 ever, uncommon in dark swampy places east of the 

 Cascades. It is remarkable as possessing a most 

 singular habit that of scratching dead leaves or 

 decayed material of any sort with its feet, exactly 

 as do barndoor fowls sending the dirt right, left, 

 and behind; it picks up seeds, insects, larvae, or 

 anything eatable that it digs out, and then goes 

 on scraping for more. The long and unusually 

 strong claws with which this bird is provided 

 seem particularly well adapted to this unsparrow- 

 like mode of earning a living. If one waits quietly 

 in a dark swamp, in a few minutes the ' scratch, 

 scratch' of several of these birds is pretty sure to 

 be heard from under the tangle of fallen timber. 



From daylight until dark Goatsuckers wing 

 their way in mazy circles, like nights of gnats 

 on summer evenings more than insect-catch- 

 ing birds so very numerous are they at this 

 favoured locality. The continuous ' pisk, pisk,' 

 and sudden booming roar they make whilst fly- 

 ing, is heard in every direction high in the air, 

 and close to one's ear. They have various names 

 given them, such as 



NIGHT HAWK BULL BAT MOSQUITO HAWK 

 the GOATSUCKEE (Chordeiles popetue, Vieill) of 



