252 THE FERN-OWL. 



year to watch the Starlings (see p. 208) was formerly a source 

 of equal interest respecting Swallows ; nests were snugly con- 

 cealed in sheltered nooks, the belfry itself being a favourite 

 resort, notwithstanding the frequent peals which might have 

 shaken the nerves of less determined birds ; and a few days 

 before their final departure, it was pleasant to watch them 

 marshalling their newly-fledged broods along the projecting 

 dripstones and mouldings on the eastern side of the old grey 

 tower, enjoying the morning sun. As the numbers collected 

 seemed far to exceed those which were reared there, it appeared 

 as if the united broods of the neighbourhood had, by common 

 consent, .fixed upon it as a favoured central rendezvous. All 

 was exhilaration a perpetual twittering was kept up ; a few 

 of the old ones would, after flying in circles round the battle- 

 ments, pass screaming by the reposing ranks of young ones, 

 and then, as if by word of command, the whole body would 

 sweep from their resting-places, and in loud chorus take a 

 wider circuit, as if to try their powers ; and then in an instant 

 crowd again together, and rest as before. 



The Goat-suckers, or Fern-Owls, so called from being fre- 

 quently met with on heather, or wild places abounding with 

 fern, ought more truly to be called Moth-Hawks, from their 

 feeding almost entirely upon these 'soft-winged insects, which 

 they catch up in their flight, however dark it may be. To 

 human beings, who at dusk can 

 scarcely trace a swift-flying moth as it 

 glances by, it is inconceivable how 

 this bird can contrive to make its 

 constant meals on such precarious 

 prey. Nature, however, has amply 

 provided it with never-failing means 

 of feasting to its satisfaction. In the 

 first place, the eye is large, full, and 

 clear, like the Owl's, and so thin 

 and transparent is the membrane sepa- 



The Fern-Owl, or Goat-sucker. 



rating it from the base 01 the upper 



mandible, that as it flies, when in search of food, with its 

 mouth open, it has been surmised by some naturalists that 



