THE FERN-OWL. 



as the nocturnal birds. In fact, they may be 

 said to be half night-birds, or rather twilight- 

 birds, flying abroad only in the twilight, or in 

 fine nights. They have an enormous mouth, still 

 more deeply cleft than the swallow : this is fur- 

 nished with strong mustachios, called by natural- 

 ists, vibrissce, and is capable of receiving the larg- 

 est insects ; such as chaffers, night-beetles, and 

 moths. When once within his extended beak, 

 this bird is said to have no occasion to close it 

 to secure his prey from escape ; nature has fur- 

 nished him with a gluey secretion, which falling 

 on the insects, effectually detains them. The 

 fern-owl, of which we have given the figure, is 

 the only species found in Europe. It has re- 

 ceived several popular names beside those men- 

 tioned above, such as square-tailed swallow, night- 

 raven, night-hawk, dor-hawk, puckeridge, &c. 



White, of Selborne, seems to have been the 

 first English naturalist who paid much attention 

 to the habits of this bird. To him it was a 

 source of great amusement, as he watched it 

 darting about on rapid wing in the summer twi- 

 light, or listened to its jarring note, which he 

 compared to the clattering of castanets.* He 



* " The Fern-Owl," says this naturalist, " from the dusk- 

 till day-break, serenades his mate with the clattering of 

 castanets." 



