BIRDS USEFUL TO FARM AND ORCHARD 639 
Habits and Economie Status 
The skillful evolutions of a company 
of nighthawks as the birds gracefully 
cleave the air in intersecting circles is a 
sight to be remembered. So expert are 
they on the wing that no insect is safe 
from them, even the swift dragonfly be- 
ing captured with ease. Unfortunately 
their erratic flight tempts men to use 
them for targets, and this inexcusable 
practice is seriously diminishing their 
numbers, which is deplorable, since no 
birds are more useful. This species makes 
no nest, but lays its two spotted eggs on 
the bare ground, sometimes on the gravel 
roof of the city house. The nighthawk 
is a voracious feeder and is almost ex- 
clusively insectivorous. Some stomachs 
contained from 30 to 50 different kinds 
of insects, and more than 600 kinds have 
been identified from the stomachs thus 
far examined. From 500 to 1,000 ants 
are often found in a stomach. Several 
species of mosquitoes, including Ano- 
pheles, the transmitter of malaria, are 
eaten. Other well known pests destroyed 
by the nighthawk are the Colorado po- 
tato beetle, cucumber beetles, chestnut, 
rice, clover-leaf and cotton-boll weevils, 
billbugs, bark beetles, squash bugs, and 
moths of the cotton worm. 
Flicker 
Colaptes auratus 
Length, 18 inches. The yellow under 
surface of the wing, yellow tail shafts, 
and white rump are characteristic. 
Range 
Breeds in the EHastern United States 
west to the plains and in the forested 
parts of Canada and Alaska; winters in 
most of the Hastern United States. 
Habits and Economic Status 
The flicker inhabits the open country 
rather than the forest and delights in 
park-like regions where trees are numer- 
ous and scattered. It nests in any large 
cavity in a tree and readily appropriates 
an artificial box. It is possible, there- 
fore, to insure the presence of this useful 
bird about the farm and to increase its 
numbers. It is the most terrestrial of 
our woodpeckers and procures much of 
its food from the giound. The largest 
item of animal food is ants, of which the 
flicker eats more than any other common 
birds Ants were found in 524 of the 684 
stomachs examined and 98 stomachs con- 
tained no other food. One stomach con- 
tained over 5,000 and two others held 
over 3,000 each. While bugs are not 
largely eaten by the flicker, one stomach 
contained 17 chinch bugs. Wild fruits 
are next to ants in importance in the 
flicker’s dietary. Of these sour gum and 
Wild black cherry stand at the head. The 
food habits of this bird are such as to 
recommend it to complete protection. 
Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker 
Sphyrapicus varius 
Length, about eight and one-half 
inches. Only woodpecker having top of 
head from base of bill red, combined with 
a black patch on breast. 
Range 
Breeds in northern half of the United 
States and southern half of Canada; win- 
ters in most of the states and south to 
Costa Rica. 
Habits and Economic Status 
The yellow-bellied sapsucker is rather 
silent and suspicious and generally man- 
ages to have a tree between himself and 
the observer. Hence the bird is much 
better known by its works than its ap- 
pearance. The regular girdles of holes 
made by this bird are common on a great 
variety of trees; in all about 250 kinds 
are known to be attacked. Occasionally 
young trees are killed outright, but more 
loss is caused by stains and other blem- 
ishes in the wood which result from sap- 
sucker punctures. These blemishes, which 
are known as bird pecks, are especially 
numerous in hickory, oak, cypress and 
yellow poplar. Defects due to sapsucker 
work cause an annual loss to the lumber 
industry estimated at $1,250,000. The 
food of the yellow-bellied sapsucker is 
about half animal and half vegetable. Its 
fondness for ants counts slightly in its 
favor. It eats also wasps, beetles (in- 
cluding, however, very few wood-boring 
species), bugs, and spiders. The two 
principal components of the vegetable 
