INSECT-CATCHING BIRDS. 159 
Here I first saw the Fox Sparrow (Passerella 
Townsendit, 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, larvee, 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 flights 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— 
Nicgut Hawxk—Butt Batr—Mosaquiro Hawxk— 
the GoatsucKEeR (Chordeiles popetue, Vieill) of 
