308 THE BIRDS 



The Barn Owl, or Screech Owl (Strix ftammea), the Brown Owl 

 (Syrnium aluco) and the Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) are the com- 

 monest British residents. The Eagle Owl (Rulo ignavus) and the 

 Little Owl (Carine noctua) are visitors to England, and the latter 

 has been known occasionally to breed in the southern counties. 



The Nightjars, or Goat-suckers as they are sometimes called, are 

 decidedly owl-like in appearance. They are found in most parts of 

 the world, and their strange, jarring note is heard on open common 

 lands and moorlands in very many parts of Britain. Nightjars 

 are birds of the twilight ; by day they rest concealed under bushes, 

 in hollow tree-stumps or on low boughs of trees, and they are peculiar 

 in resting lengthwise on a branch instead of across in the ordinary 

 bird manner. The eggs are laid on the bare ground, often just 

 under the shelter of a gorse bush or a clump of bracken, but some- 

 times even this protection is lacking ; but as the parent bird sits 

 very closely on the ground her colour blends so well with the soil 

 that she is practically invisible. When sitting the Nightjar closes 

 her eyes so that their brightness may not betray her, and she 

 will almost allow herself to be trodden on before she will rise from 

 the ground. The male birds in some cases take part in the in- 

 cubation and sit quite as still as their mates.- 



These birds have an enormously wide gape, and the short, 

 broad beak is commonly fringed with stiff bristles; the skull is 

 much flattened and the eyes are large and bright. 



The Swifts at one time were grouped with the swallow tribe, 

 but apart from a general external resemblance, and the habit of 

 hawking insects on the wing, the two families have but little in 

 common and are not closely allied. Swifts are really more nearly 

 related to the humming-birds, for, although the dark Swifts and 

 the brilliant jewel-like humming-birds are outwardly so unlike 

 each other, their kinship is shown in several points of structure. 

 Swifts are essentially children of the air. Except at night they 

 spend almost all their time on the wing, wheeling and circling 

 at great heights, uttering the while their shrill, piercing cry, or 

 skimming rapidly over the ground in pursuit of insect prey. The 

 peculiar formation of the foot makes perching a difficulty, all 

 four toes being directed forwards, but Swifts are able to cling 

 with ease to perpendicular surfaces, and it is said they can even 

 climb up a rough jvall or cliff. Swifts inhabit both hemispheres, 



