down a number of different kinds of insects. It
is very fond of ants as a diet, in fact is partial to them, and this
element forms almost half of its entire food-supply during the year.
It also occasionally feeds upon the chinch-bug, as can be attested by
the fact that the stomach of a specimen killed near Lincoln contained
in the vicinity of one thousand of these bugs. It is also a
fruit-eater to the extent of about one-quarter of its entire bill of
fare, but nature, not man, furnishes the supply. It takes the wild
kinds in preference to those that are cultivated.

The Whippoorwill, Night Hawk, and Swifts feed entirely on insects,
and must consequently be classed among the beneficial birds. They all
capture their prey while upon the wing, and naturally destroy large
numbers of troublesome kinds.

The various species of Flycatchers, as the name implies, destroy
insects which they capture for the most part while on the wing. Flies
and allied insects are quite prominent on their bill of fare; but
these by no means are the only kinds of insects destroyed by them.
Many a luckless locust, butterfly, moth or even beetle is snapped up
and devoured by the different species of the family. The Bee-bird, or
Kingbird as it is more frequently called, sometimes even catches bees.
These latter, however, consist largely of drones, hence comparatively
little harm is done.

One should be unprejudiced in order to write a fair biography of even
a bird, or group of birds. To say that I am without such prejudice
with reference to some of the members of the family of birds now to be
considered, would be a falsehood. Still, I shall endeavor to give as
unbiased testimony as possible with reference to their food-habits at
least, and let the reader judge for himself as to what would be the
proper treatment for these birds. Taking the family as a whole that
which is made up of birds like the Crows, Ravens, Magpies, Jays,
Nut-crackers, "Camp-robbers," etc., though some of them have
unenviable names and reputations at least, are not at all as bad as we
are sometimes requested to believe them to be.

The Crows, Ravens, Magpies, and immediate relatives are what might be
termed "omnivorous" in food-habits, eating everything that comes their
way. Crows, however, have been shown to feed largely on insects,
which in great measure at least, offsets the harm done in other
directions. They also feed on various substances, the removal of which
is for th