588 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part i 



and orthoptera were found in many stomachs. It must be recognized, 

 however, that examination of stomach contents alone may not give a 

 true picture of the bird's food habits, as the hard fruits of the hackberry 

 add the chitinous exoskeletons of the msects are more likely to remain 

 identifiable than any softer material ingested. 



The towhee obtains most of its food by scratching in the leaves and 

 other ground litter beneath the shrubbery in which the birds live. 

 A. M. Woodbury (1933) describes its method of feeding as follows: 



The Spurred Towhee (Pipilo maculatus montanus) is a perching bird that has 

 entered the field of scratching to earn a Uving. In Zion Canyon in Utah it is an 

 inhabitant of the dense thickets of oak, sarvis-berry, squawbush and streamside 

 deciduous trees. It is primarily a ground-dwelling bird, nesting among the thickets 

 and hunting its food chiefly among the trash and leaves, but does not hesitate to 

 ascend the trees and brush at other times. 



* * * If the visible food supply on the surface is not sufficient for its needs, the 

 towhee takes to turning over the leaves and scratching among the trash with its 

 feet. This is a complex operation that it is fitted admirably to perform. * * * 



Scratching birds like chickens stand on one leg and scratch with the other, but 

 not so with the towhee. Being a small bird, it would have a difficult time turning 

 over a leaf with one foot while standing on it with the other. Such difficulties are 

 solved by using both feet in scratching. In order to use both feet, the body must 

 be balanced in the air during the scratching operation. 



This is accomplished by jumping into the air and drawing the feet backward 

 while the upward momentum lasts. Drawing the feet backward and raking trash 

 or leaves at the same time tends to overbalance the body forward. The bird uses 

 several methods to hold its balance, either singly or in combination. Nearly 

 always, the scratching motion of the feet is accompanied by an upward and forward 

 jerk of the tail. Sometimes the wings flutter forward, and always after the scratch- 

 ing stroke the feet are brought forward quickly to catch the body and keep it from 

 falUng. Sometimes a backward movement of the body is made in jumping and 

 the feet rake the trash while the momentum lasts. This is accompanied by a 

 downward movement of the tail. All of these movements are carried on auto- 

 matically and seemingly with the greatest of ease. 



Sometimes, when the jump is made, the feet are thrust forward and trash in 

 front of the bird is caught and pulled backward. Other times material underneath 

 is moved, while occasionally material just behind the feet will be kicked out of the 

 way by vigorous backward strokes. 



Sometimes the trash is kept flying by quick successive strokes, but if insects, 

 spiders, or other interesting food items are exposed to the eye of the bird, it sud- 

 denly stops and picks up such items one by one. And thus it taps a food supply 

 not available to its competitors in Zion Canon. On one occasion, I saw a Wood- 

 house Jay make a dart at a towhee. The smaller bird merely flitted away a few 

 feet and stopped. The jay did not pursue any farther. At another time a gray 

 rock squirrel came nosing around very close to the towhee, evidently paying no 

 attention to the bird. The bird, however, flitted quietly out of the way a few feet 

 and went on scratching. 



Winter. — In Utah the spurred towhees begin to gather into small 

 flocks in September. However, the flocks are loosely organized, and 

 many of the birds remain more or less solitary. Flocking seems to 

 result from a tendency to gather in favored localities rather than true 



