NIGHTJAR 243 



" Daylight now rapidly advanced, and the Fern-Owls 

 had vanished into their woody domain, and all was stilh 

 After a good wash at a little brawling rivulet, I felt my- 

 self refreshed, and my rustic toilet completed, I dashed 

 into the thick tangled wood in search of further 

 adventures. 



" At the latter end of June, 1830, 1 started at 12 o'clock 

 at night with a friend from Bermondsey, Surrey, for a 

 walk to Bexley, over Dartford Heath, to Wilmington and 

 Hawley, Kent. We arrived at the Bull Inn, on the top 

 of Shooter's Hill, between 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning. 

 Here the Fern-Owls were busy, hawking for food about 

 an elm tree close to the inn, and we sat down on the 

 bench outside the house for half an hour to refresh our- 

 selves, and at the same time to admire the clever, quick 

 movements of the birds. There were several of them, 

 and they kept flying about the outskirts of the wood 

 opposite the inn ; but the elm tree seemed to be a 

 favourite resort, there being no doubt plenty of moths 

 and beetles about it. The place was all alive with Fern- 

 Owls, and their continued singing, with occasional sharp 

 squeaks, made the locality ring again, particularly about 

 the keeper's house. The birds did not seem in the least 

 alarmed or shy at our presence, but flew so close to us 

 that I nearly knocked one down with my stick." 



Captain Boyd Alexander, in his notes on birds in Kent 

 {Zoologist, 1896), says : "The woods are now destitute of 

 bird-voices, save at times for the fitful cooings of the 

 Eing-Doves. The Nightjars, too, are silent. Their 

 monotonous songs ceased as soon as the young were 

 hatched. Nestlings of this species are frequently found 

 here very late in the autumn. One was taken near 

 Sissinghurst on August 10, and I have on record much 



