68 WITH THE U. S. NATURALISTS 



flying insect which tries to dodge or to slip out of 

 the small beak. 



Though the regular food of the Chuck- Will 's- 

 Widow consists of June-bugs, big flying beetles, 

 horse-flies, locusts and a small proportion of 

 dragon-flies, Humming-birds and even small Spar- 

 rows have been found in its stomach. Probably 

 these were mistaken for large night moths, but a 

 Chuck- Will's- Widow has been seen to pursue and 

 catch Warblers on the wing. 



The Night-Hawk or Bull-Bat, as he is familiarly 

 known, a smaller member of the family, is a mas- 

 ter chaser of the air, and, contrary to general 

 opinion, is one of the farmer's best friends. No 

 winged insect, however speedy, can escape his 

 marvelous flight. His average meal, each night, 

 is from four to five thousand insects. Two or 

 three pairs of Night-Hawks on a small farm will 

 almost abohsh potato and cucumber beetles, will 

 nearly exterminate rice and cotton boll weevils, 

 will banish bill and squash bugs and destroy the 

 armies of the cotton worm moth. To the forest he 

 is just as useful. Eighteen species of bark beetles, 

 all of them destructive, have been found by U. S. 

 Biological Survey experts in the stomach of a sin- 

 gle Night Hawk. 



