'I'lic ircc swallow, like- llic ]iurplc martin, taUes readily to civilization and 

 may be had by putting up a box a little before time for their return from the 

 south. 



To in. sure, .success, however, the sparrows must be kept from pre-empting the 

 box. 



In the vast stretches of country in the United States and Canada where the 

 swallow is common and the homes of men few and very far apart, the bird must 

 depend upon such holes as it can find. Deserted woodpecker holes are most 

 commonly used, but any hole, hollow posts, rails, or even holes in banks of earth 

 are appropriate. 



Like its relatives, this swallow feeds upon insects and is therefore a desirable 

 tenant in the garden or on the farm. It is especially fond of locusts but also eats 

 large numbers of click beetles, chinch bugs, squash and cucumber beetles, cratie 

 flies, house and stable flies, winged plant lice, and many other insects that levy 

 their tax upon the products of farm and garden. 



The Nighthawk and Its Ways 



By C. L. Chamberlin 



The Nighthawk is really not a Hawk at all and does not greatly resemble 

 one except in its quick flight when in pursuit of its food. You have noticed this 

 dusky-gray bird, a trifle larger than a robin, flitting about hither and thither in 

 the early evening, securing its food, the larger insects of the U])per air. It is 

 seldom seen except in the evening, although on rare occasions it will appear on 

 dark, cloudy afternoons. 



The Nighthawk is a uniform dull-gray in color with a white spot on each 

 wing. The male is further adorned by a white band across the tail. The color 

 makes the bird extremely difficult to distinguish at night except when it is flying 

 and the body appears outlined against the sky. 



Although this bird always appears in flight high up in the air, it lays its eggs 

 in any small depression on the ground, never taking the trouble to construct a nest. 

 The two grayish colored eggs are hardly visible and the absence of any nesting 

 material renders the nest one of the most difficult of all to locate. The bird seeks 

 a further protection for its nest by resort to that well-known trick of several 

 species by fluttering from the nest when one approaches too near and half-flying, 

 half-hopping away as if badly crijipled. By this action it leads one to attempt 

 to pick it up, but it always manages to keep just out of reach without making too 

 great an effort till finally at a safe distance it rises and flies away entirely recovered 

 from its apparent injuries. Unless one marks his position unusually well when the 

 old bird first rises, it is very difficult to return to the place near which the eggs 

 will be found. But one should not pay too close attention to the eggs or even 

 the little birds after they are hatched, for the Nighthawk possesses the most 



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