408 Mr. N. A. Vigors on the Natural Affinities 



cited as an additional proof of their approach to the Birds of 

 Prey. The strong talons of the latter are lost in Caprimulgus : 

 but a construction of similar import (for the serration of the 

 nail appears capable of being applied to the purposes of seizure 

 only) preserves, though faintly, the resemblance. May we not 

 almost venture to affirm, that this apparently trivial appen- 

 dage is an instance of that beautiful shading by which Nature 

 softens down the extremes of her neighbouring groups — one of 

 those minute and delicate touches by which she marks at once 

 an affinity and a deviation ? But while we may discern at a 

 glance the general approximation of these two families, we must 

 at the same time acknowledge that they stand in need of an in- 

 termediate link to give them a closer connexion. The weakness 

 of the bill and of the legs and feet of the Caprimulgus still keeps 



it 



diments of it ; thus establishing still more closely the affinity of the groups under con- 

 sideration. Xhe conjecture which I have hazarded above, as to the use of the serrated 

 claw, — that is, its being devoted to the purposes of seizure, — receives considerable cor- 

 roboration from the following observations of an ingenious and diligent inquirer into 

 nature, the late Mr. Gilbert White. " On the 12th of July, I had a fair opportunity 

 of contemplating the motions of the Caprimulgus, or Fern-owl, as it was playing round 

 a large oak that swarmed with Scarab&i solstitiales, or Fern-chafers. The powers of 

 its wing were wonderful; exceeding, if possible, the various evolutions and quick turns 

 of the Swallow genus. But the circumstance that pleased me most was, that I saw 

 it distinctly, more than once, put out its short leg while on the wing, and, by a bend 

 of the head, deliver somewhat into its mouth. If it takes any part of its prey with its 

 foot, as 1 have now the greatest reason to suppose it does these chafers, I no longer 

 wonder at the use of its middle toe, which is curiously furnished with a serrated claw." 

 "Nat. Hist, of Selborne, Letter 37- p. 94. 



Mr. Wilson, another accurate observer of Nature, assigns a different use to this ser- 

 rated claw. When speaking, in his "American Ornithology/," of the Caprimulgus 

 Carolinensis, he tells us that the birds of that species, " reposing so much during the 

 heats of day, are much infested with vermin, particularly about the head, and are pro- 

 vided with a comb on the inner edge of the middle claw, with which they are often 

 employed in ridding themselves of these pests, at least when in a state of captivity." 

 Vol. vi. p. 97. See also vol. v. p. 77. This can be at best but an accidental use to 



which 



