20 
NEW HAMPSHIRE NATURE STUDIES 
flying away. Prof. F. H. Herrick lias found that the young cat- 
birds in the nests are fed freely with these soft-bodied dragon-flies. 
The Maryland yellow throat and the swamp-sparrow are especially 
likely to be seen in the region of running or standing water, getting 
much of their food from the insects found there. 
Practically all of the insects that prey upon vegetation exist in 
one stage of life as winged adults which fly through the air either 
during the day or during the night. At such times they are liable 
to attack by certain birds which patrol the air with great efficiency, 
by day the general regions of the air are supervised by the swilts, 
swallows, and martins. Over field, wood, orchard, meadow, lake, 
and pond these aerial police are constantly on the alert to check the 
careers of the evildoers. When the insects fly high the swallows 
are after them in the upper air; when they fly low the swallows 
skim the surface of soil and water to catch them. Flies and butter- 
flies, beetles and bugs, ants and aphides, grasshoppers anti leaf- 
hoppers, mosquitoes and moths, all fall victims to these fowls of the 
air. 
But the birds just named are by no means the only watchers of 
the flying insects. The space near the trees and fences, the stumps 
and rocky cliffs, is looked after by those birds which rest quietly on 
some perch until an insect comes near and then flies after it. \\ ith 
us the most important of these flycatchers are the kingbird, the 
phcebe, and the crested flycatcher, although the wood pewee and 
various other species also render efficient assistance. And even 
the space within the limits of the tree branches is looked after by 
the vireos and warblers, especially the redstart, the latter bird 
having well been called “ the flycatcher of the inner treetops.” 
A very large proportion of the winged insects fly by night. But 
even then they are not exempt from destruction by birds. In the 
twilight as well as the deeper shades of night the night hawks and 
whippoorwills are searching the air for insect food. Almost any 
winged insect, from the great Luna moth to the smaller flies, is 
liable to be taken by the capacious jaws of these silent messengers. 
The Hawks and Owls 
While insects are by far the most destructive animals with which 
the birds have to do, they are by no means the only ones. The 
great group of birds of prey, of which the hawks and owls are the 
