174 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 



White observes : " When a person approaches the haunt 

 of the Fern Owls in an evening, they continue flying 

 round the head of the intruder, and by striking their 

 wings together above their backs, in the manner that 

 the Pigeons called Smiters are known to do, make a 

 smart snap ; perhaps at that time they are jealous for 

 their young, and their noise and gesture are intended by 

 way of menace." In leaving the song of the Nightjar, I 

 think that the word " purring " seems as applicable to 

 it as "churring," and that it is certainly the most 

 remarkable bird-voice heard in Ireland. 



The plumage and markings of the Nightjar remind 

 one forcibly of some of our large moths ; the peculiar 

 softness of the feathers, and noiselessness of the flight, 

 of its nocturnal associates, the Owls. With reference to 

 what is called its " pectinated claw," which much resem- 

 bles a close-toothed comb, many theories have been 

 entertained. Some have thought that the bird captured 

 its insect prey with this claw, and thus transferred it to 

 its mouth ; others believe that it was used to divest the 

 bill of the insects which might adhere to the bristles in 

 the mouth. Mr. Seebohm, however, is of opinion that 

 most probably it is of service in disengaging the hooked 

 feet of the beetles upon which the bird feeds from the 

 bill. The Nightjar perches lengthwise on the bough of 

 a tree, not across it, as other birds do ; and, sitting with 

 his head down and motionless, the bird's colour is 

 eminently protective, for it looks precisely "like the 

 stump of a dead, broken-ofT branch." 



The female makes no nest, but lays her two eggs in 

 a hollow on the ground ; they are of a white colour, 

 blotched with grey ; the hollow made by a cow's or 



