Two celebrated European songsters.
Doves.—The food of the dove consists of seeds of weeds, together with some grain. The examination of the contents of 237 stomachs shows that over 99 per cent of the food consists wholly of vegetable matter.
Cuckoos.—An examination of the stomachs of 46 black-billed cuckoos, taken during the summer months, showed the remains of 906 caterpillars, 44 beetles, 96 grasshoppers, 100 sawflies, 30 stink bugs, and 15 spiders. Of the yellow-billed cuckoos, or “rain-crow,” 109 stomachs collected from May to October, inclusive, were examined. The contents consisted of 1,865 caterpillars, 93 beetles, 242 grasshoppers, 37 sawflies, 69 bugs, 6 flies, and 86 spiders.
Fig. 327.—Lyre Bird, male.
Woodpeckers.—Careful observers have noticed that, excepting a single species, these birds rarely leave any conspicuous mark on a healthy tree, except when it is affected by wood-boring larvæ, which are accurately located, dislodged, and devoured by the woodpecker. Of the flickers’ or yellow-hammers’ stomachs examined, three were completely filled with ants. Two of the birds each contained more than 3,000 ants, while the third bird contained fully 5,000. These ants belong to species which live in the ground. It is these insects for which the flicker is reaching when it runs about in the grass. The yellow-bellied woodpecker or sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) was shown to be guilty of pecking holes in the bark of various forest trees, and sometimes in that of apple trees, and of drinking the sap when the pits became filled. It has been proved, however, that besides taking the sap the bird captures large numbers of insects which are attracted by the sweet fluid, and that these form a very considerable portion of its diet. The woodpeckers seem the only agents which can successfully cope with certain insect enemies of the forests, and, to some extent, with those of fruit trees also. For this reason, if for no other, they should be protected in every possible way.
Fig. 328.—Sacred Ibis. (Order?)
The night hawk, or “bull bat,” may be seen most often soaring high in air in the afternoon or early evening. It nests upon rocks or bare knolls and flat city roofs. Its food consists of insects taken on the wing; and so greedy is the bird that when food is plentiful, it fills its stomach almost to bursting. Ants (except workers) have wings and fly as they are preparing to propagate. In destroying ants night hawks rank next to, or even with, the woodpeckers, the acknowledged ant-eaters among birds.
