Common Birds on the Farm. 273 



proach of winter necessarily drives them to the far south, where an 

 insect diet may be procured. 



The United States Department of Agriculture in its study of the 

 feeding habits of birds had 87 nighthawks killed and the contents of the 

 stomachs examined. One of the most conspicuous elements of food was 

 found to be flying ants. In twenty-four individuals the number count- 

 ed ranged from two hundred to eighteen hundred. While some ants at 

 times have useful functions, they are as a whole annoying and harmful 

 insects. The work done by the nighthawk in destroying the flying ant 

 is doubly important, as it occurs just at the epoch in an ant's life when 

 it is preparing to propagate its kind. The death of an ant at this 

 time means the loss of hundreds or perhaps thousands of the next gen- 

 eration. Nighthawks eat many grasshoppers. One stomach held the re- 

 mains of sixty individuals. This was probably the remains of several 

 meals, as indicated by the presence of the mouth parts, which alone had 

 remained in the stomach. Numbers of the birds were found to have 

 eaten May beetles and others had consumed potato beetles. Bugs of 

 the chinch-bug family, leaf-hoppers, and many soft-bodied dipterous 

 insects were discovered, as well as the remains of many small insects like 

 mosquitoes, but not fully identified. 



It is evident that the nighthawk is one of the most valuable birds, 

 and the law which protects them should at all times be carefully ob- 

 served. The man who watches these birds flying aliout over his farm 

 of an evening may feel well assured that they are friends and will do 

 him no harm, but rather much good. 



BROWN THRASHER. 



Rufus brown above, except the tips of the wing covert, which are whitish. Below 

 the bird is white, streaked (except on the throat and belly) with black. Length near 

 11 V2 inches. 



Range. — Eastern United States ; breeds from Florida to Maine. 



Nest. — Composed of twigs, small roots, pieces of grapevine, or other similar ma- 

 terial, and lined with fine rootlets. It is placed in thickets, bushes, or, rarely, on the 

 ground. 



Eggs. — Generally, four in number, the ground color of light gray, thickly speckled, 

 covered with brown. 



This has been a familiar bird with the most of us since our earliest 

 school days, when we heard the children recite the classic verses be- 

 ginning: ''There's a merry Brown Thrush sitting up in the tree." 

 Although it is a comparatively common bird throughout the state in 

 summer, many individuals retire southward upon the approach of cold 

 weather, and it is probably very rare west of Releigh during the winter 

 weather. I saw one at Chapel Hill January- 2, 1899, and the date 



A— 18 



