CHAPTER XI 



GOATSUCKERS, SWIFTS, HUMMINGBIRDS, 

 CUCKOOS, PIGEONS 



THE order of birds to which belong the 

 families, Goatsuckers, Hummingbirds 

 and Swifts, is one of the most interesting 

 and most curious that we have in the Great 

 Lake region. Members of each family of the 

 order arrive here every spring, and all summer 

 we have an excellent opportunity to observe 

 their habits. It is evening before we hear the 

 "Vhip-poor-will in the bush below the bank, for 

 while the other birds sleep the Goatsuckers are 

 on duty, so its work is just commencing. This 

 bird of the night devours the night flying moths 

 and beetles, lessens the number of June bugs, 

 and sometimes on still gloomy days, has been 

 known to feed upon ants on the ground. It is 

 a bird of the woodland and the woodland 

 streams, though frequently it ventures out 

 along the edges of the farm land, and some- 

 times at night it can be heard among the trees 

 beside the house. The Whip-poor-will lays its 

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