USEFL'L BIRDS 



173 



harsh cry and occasionally, on half-closed wings, darting down to 

 the earth with a booming sound, made, it is claimed, by the rush 

 of air through his primary wing feathers. The two eggs of the 

 Night Hawk are laid on the ground or in the fields, or even on a 

 flat rock, with no seml:)lance of a nest ; occasionally, they are found 

 on fiat roofs of buildings in cities. The Whippoorwill';? eggs, also 

 two in number, are laid on the ground or on a log or stump in the 

 woods, likewise protected by no nest. The coloring and mark- 

 ings of the two birds also serve to distinguish them. The Whip- 

 poorwill's colors partake of the browns, while the Night Hawk is 

 grayish. The tail of the former has the three outer feathers white 

 for about two-thirds their length. I'Tirther, the end of the tail is 

 rounding. The latter-named bird has a conspicuous white patch 

 on each wing; its tail is forked- The A\'hippoorwill feeds largely 

 on moths and beetles ; the Night Hawk on May flies, gnats, dragon 

 flies, grasshoppers, etc. 



THE QUAIL. 



Amongst our game birds, the Quail gets most of its grain after 

 the crop has been gathered ; it eats insects, some of them very in- 

 jurious ; large numbers of potato beetles and chinch bugs have 



