THE NIGHTJAR: OR FERN OWL. 131 



never have any excuse, or any desire, to do so 

 again. 



The bird is far from uncommon, especially in 

 the southern counties, and can be heard and seen 

 as near to London as Wimbledon Common. 

 The open heaths of Surrey, in any place whose 

 name ends with 'shott, Aldershot, Bagshot, 

 Oxshott, Eushott, nightjars are regular visitants, 

 arriving long after many other migratory birds 

 have eggs and young. In colouring the night- 

 jar is sombre almost as sombre as a London 

 sparrow, and in habits crepuscular and nocturnal. 



The mouth, for it has very little actual beak, 

 is edged with bristles or vibrissae, thereby aiding 

 it to catch the insects on which it feeds. 



Although known in certain districts as the 

 * Fern owl,' and the ' nighthawk,' it is more 

 akin to the swifts and swallows both in food 

 and flight. The term * goatsucker ' or 

 caprimalgus is a delusion void of all foundation 

 like the mythical thunderbolt; and, as a matter 

 of fact, the bird would be physically unable to 

 attempt any such action. 



An interesting feature to naturalists is the 

 serrated claw of the nightjar, seeing that no 

 actual use has ever been discovered for so 

 curious a characteristic. One theory which is 

 accepted by Bree, and other * separate-creation ' 

 naturalists, as a proven and patent fact, is that 

 the pectinated claw is used for combing out the 

 rictal bristles which surround the bird's mouth. 



Bree goes so far as to twit evolutionists on 

 this point, and asks them how they can possibly 



