18 



TWENTIETH CENTUKY CLASSICS 



arrangement to let the water escape ( see cut No. 1 ) that 

 was taken up with the food. This is the plan in the 

 ducks and geese, where the 

 edges of the bill are finely 

 ridged. 



The Nighthawk, w h i c h is 

 not one of the Hawk family at 

 all, like the Whippoorwill, its 

 nearest relative, comes out 

 bright and active about twilight in search of its favorite 

 insect food. A look at its bill would at once convince 

 you that it is neither a fisherman, a seed-eater, nor 

 a bird of prey, for its bill is very small. What is lack- 

 ing in this respect, however, is made up in the size of 

 the mouth, which opens widely, making a splendid trap 

 for the moths, and other night-flying insects, which it 

 eats. The wing, too, is long, giving the bird speed and 

 agility. 



In the Whippoorwill, the mouth is thickly set with 

 long bristles that assist in trapping the luckless insect. 

 (See cut No. 4.) On such journeys 

 the Whippoorwills frequently approach 

 houses, and, regardless of their sur- 

 roundings, sing with remarkable clear- 

 ness and power. 



The Swallows are another family of 

 insect-eaters. They, too, have a small 

 bill and large mouth. Small as is the 

 bill, one of our Swallows (Barn Swal- 

 low ) makes a kind of hod of it, in which he carries pel- 

 lets of mud for his nest. 



Along the banks of a small pond a large number of 

 dead, but recently tenanted, snail-shells could be seen, 

 and in the shallow water the live ones were abundant. 



