90 THE FERN-OWL. 



with wonder, to find that the organs of that 

 little animal when put in motion, gave a sensible 

 vibration to the whole building. This bird also 

 sometimes makes a small squeak, repeated four 

 or five times." In another letter, written also 

 from his pleasant Selborne, he says : " On the 

 12th of July, I had a fair opportunity of con- 

 templating the motions of the fern-owl, as it 

 was playing round a large oak that swarmed with 

 fern- chaffers. The powers of its wing were 

 wonderful, exceeding, if possible, the various 

 evolutions and quick turns of the swallow genus. 

 But the circumstance that pleased me most was, 

 that I saw it distinctly, more than once, put out 

 its short leg while on the wing, and, by a bend 

 of the head, deliver something into its mouth. 

 If -it takes any part of its prey with its foot, as 

 I have now the greatest reason to suppose it 

 does these chaffers, I no longer wonder at the 

 use of its middle toe, which is curiously fur- 

 nished with a serrated claw." 



TKis last opinion of White's has been much 

 controverted: some have supposed that the 

 movement of the foot towards the mouth of the 

 bird, was merely to enable it to comb out the 

 hairs of its mustachio, when ruffled by catching 

 its prey. A very probable solution of this diffi- 

 culty may be found in the following suggestion 



