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.
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Fig. 329.—Top-knot Quail, or California Partridge. (West Texas to California.)
The kingbird, or martin, is largely insectivorous. In an examination
of 62 stomachs of this bird, great care was taken to
identify every insect or fragment that had any resemblance to a
honeybee; as a result, 30 honeybees were identified, of which 29
were males or drones and 1 was a worker.
Blue Jay.—In an investigation of the food of the blue jay 300 stomachs were examined, which showed that animal matter comprised 24 per cent and vegetable matter 76 per cent of the bird's diet. The jay's favorite food is mast (i.e. acorns, chestnuts, chinquapins, etc.), which was found in 200 of the 300 stomachs, and amounted to more than 42 per cent of the whole food.
