160 THE GOATSUCKEE. 



zoologists. I have met with only one well-marked 

 species from the coast to the summit of the Rocky 

 Mountains. They arrive at Vancouver Island 

 and along the coast in May, and at Colville' in 

 June. On the 7th of June I observed a great 

 number of these goatsuckers in company with 

 what I imagined to be the Black Swift, but as they 

 never came within range I could not determine 

 the matter. I succeeded in getting one goat- 

 sucker, a male; its stomach was gorged with 

 winged ants; a flight of these insects had, as I 

 imagine, attracted these birds. 



When flying high the goatsucker makes a 

 curious kind of chirp hence the name by which 

 they are known throughout Oregon and Cali- 

 fornia, as Pisk ; and when they swoop down, as 

 they constantly do, from a great height, they 

 make a loud booming noise, almost like a roar, 

 or the twang of a large metal harp-string whence 

 I suppose comes the other name, Bull Bat. 



I have noticed them 7,000 feet above the sea- 

 level, both on the Cascades and the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. They lay two eggs in July, on the bare 

 ground. They have a curious habit of pitching on 

 the ground just as it is getting dark, and running 

 along like a sandpiper, chasing moths and small 

 insects. I have often seen them pitch close to 

 my feet. 



