FIUXGILLID^E — THE l-kVCUErf. 55 



Dr. Coopor stiitos that liu t'oiind tliis Sjuiitow only ti wiiittT resident in 

 WiishinLjloii Turritury, wliere, in cunipuny with other Siiiirrows, it kept eou- 

 .stantlv un the groinid, IVecpientiny tiie tiiickets and seniteiiing iiniuny; the 

 fallen leaves for its food. It was most common in the interior, l)ut in very 

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

 species. lie ohsia-ved a lew lingering about tiie Straits of Fuea until A])ril. 

 After that he saw no more (jf them until their return southward in October. 

 During tlieir winter residence Dr. Cooper never heard them sing. J)r. Suck- 

 ley found tliem rather abundant near Fort Steilacoom, though not so (lonimon 

 as the Mtluxjii-u rujlaa, which they greatly resembled in habits and in gen- 

 eral ap]iearance. 



Dr. Heermann describes tiiem as abun<lant and migratory in California, 

 visiting that State only in winter. He sjjcaks of them as of a solitary and 

 ipiiet nature, resorting to the thickets and underwood for its ft)od, turning 

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

 Thrusli, occasionally hojjping backwards as if to asc;ertain the results of its 

 labors. 



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

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

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

 tween A\m\ and October. Specimens have been obtained near San J'ran- 

 cisco in winter. It seemed to him to lie 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 /*. lucf/arhi/nrhus as far south as San Diego in 

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

 ber 20. 



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

 this species. They wei-c there not uncommon in dark swampy places east 

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

 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, larv;e, or anything eatable that it thus digs out, and 

 then proceeds to scratch for more. The long and unusually strong claws with 

 which this bird is provided seem particularly well adapted for these habits, 

 so unusual in a Sparrow. At almost any time, by waiting a lew moments, 

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

 under the tangle of iallen timber. 



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

 without any record of their habits. 



