. Birds of Kansas. Birds. 18 TWENTIETH CENTURY 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, ho
. Birds of Kansas. Birds. 18 TWENTIETH CENTURY 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, Avhich 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 powder. 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 Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Eyer, Benjamin F. Topeka, Kan. , Crane & Company
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1900
