THE NIGHT SIDE OF NATURE 81 



I should surmise that its use is to free the long 

 whiskers from the soft, silvery dust which usually 

 covers the bodies of night-flying moths. . Certain 

 it is that this substance gets upon the whiskers of the 

 bird, and that the long hairs referred to are combed 

 through the serrated claw. About the mouth the 

 goatsucker is very swallow-like. It has a bullet- 

 shaped head, large eyes, and a wide gape. Like the 

 swallows, too, it has a weak, ineffective bill, and 

 weak feet. This is explained by the fact that the 

 bird, except when nesting, is rarely seen on the 

 ground, and that it captures its insect prey on the 

 wing. From twilight till dawn does the fern-owl 

 " churr " and fly through the gloom. 



When almost the whole of the insect world has 

 folded its wings in sleep, there is a class of night- 

 flyers whose hours of activity are those of darkness. 

 Among the more interesting of these is the male 

 glow-worm the English firefly whose light may 

 be plainly seen as he flits past, pale and ghostly 

 against the dark background of some deeply-foliaged 

 bank or shadowy wood. Then there is the great 

 army of night-flying moths, whose nocturnal wander- 

 ings present such a weird appearance in the darkness, 

 dan whose life-history contrasts so sharply with the 

 sunny dalliance of their butterfly cousins. As moths 

 have to contend with the night winds their con- 

 stitution is more robust than that of the Rhopolocera, 



