FrJX(JlLLlD.E — THE FLNX'IIES. 



•J J 



Vv. Cooper states tliat liu tVmiul tliis SpaiTuw only a wiiiti-r resident in 

 WasliinL,'ton Territory, wlien^ in coiupimy with other Spiirrows, it kept eon- 

 stantly on the ground, Iretpienting the thickets and scrateiiing among tlie 

 fallen leaves lor its food. It was most common in the interior, hut in very 

 cold weather sought the coast, in company with the Snowbird and other 

 sp(;cies. Pie observed a few lingering abcnit the Straits of Fuca until A])ril. 

 After that he saw no mon^ of them until their return S(juthward in (Jctober. 

 During tlieir winter residence Dr. ('(joper never heard them sing. Dr. Suck- 

 lev found them rather abundant near Fort Steilacoijm, tluaigh not so coninntn 

 as the Mi/usi>ha mjina, which they greatly resembled in habits and in gen- 

 eral a})]>ein'ance. 



Dr. Heermann describes them as abundant and niigi'atory in California, 

 visiting that State only in winter. He sj)eaks of them as of a solitary and 

 (piiet nature, resorting to the thickets antl underwood for its food, turning 

 over the leaves and scratching up the ground in the manner of the JJrown 

 Thrush, occasionally hopping backwards as if to ascertain the results of its 

 labors. 



Dr. Cooper, in his Keport on the Birds of ('alifomia, reaffirms that this 

 bird is only a winter visitant to the lower country near the Columbia, but 

 also conjectures that it spends the sunnner in the Cascade Mountains, be- 

 tween Ai)ril and October. Specimens have been obtained near San Fran- 

 cisco in winter. It seemed to him to Ixi both a shy and a silent bird, fre- 

 quenting only woods or thick bushes, and while there constantly scratching 

 among the fallen leaves, and feeding both on seeds and insects. He has 

 seen either this bird or the P. mcyarhi/nchus as far south as San Diego in 

 winter. He has also noticed its arrival near San Francisco as early as Octo- 

 ber 20. 



On the Spokan Plains, in Briti.sh Columbia, Mr. J. K. Lord first met with 

 this species. They were there not uncommon in dark swampy places east 

 of the Cascades. These birds he found remarkable for their singular habit 

 of scratching dead leaves or decayed material of any sort with their feet, 

 exactly as do barn-door fowls, — sending the dirt right, left, and behind. It 

 picks up seeds, insects, larva', or anything eatable that it thus digs out, and 

 then proceeds to scratch for more. Tiie long and unusuall}' strong claws with 

 which this bird is ])rovided seem particularly well adapted for these habits, 

 so unusual in a Sparrow. At almost any time, by w^aiting a few moments, 

 one may be pretty sure to hear the scratching of several of these birds from 

 under the tangle of fallen timber. 



Seveml specimens were obtained in Sitka by Bischoff and others, but 

 without any record of their habits. 



