132 THE NIGHTJAR: OR FERN OWL. 



explain so beautiful an adaptation. ''To 

 imagine that this comb, on the claw of the long 

 middle toe, is an accidental variation, would be 

 the inference that such a variation could have 

 been produced by successive steps through a 

 long series of years." Darwinians will own, 

 with something like a sigh, that there are many 

 more difficult matters to account for by natural 

 selection than this one. 



Both Alfred Newton and Seebohm the latter 

 an evident evolutionist are far more cautious; 

 " whilst Naumann was of opinion that it was 

 of service to the bird when perched lengthwise 

 on the branches." With regard to the rictal 

 bristles it must be remarked that in many genera 

 of the Family they are absent, although the 

 serrated claw is still present, which Bree may 

 possibly have overlooked. 



For myself, I venture to think that the file- 

 like claw can assist the bird in holding, or 

 possibly in scaling, its insect prey, upon some- 

 what the same principle that rowers have the 

 handle of an oar roughed with a file to prevent 

 its slipping from their grasp. 



How many a common is there now where 

 the beetle is allowed to continue his droning 

 flight untouched by the nightjar or the kestrel; 

 and where golf balls lie ensconced in places 

 where the fern owl laid her eggs. The making 

 of golf courses is one of those deruralising 

 processes which have waged war against the 

 birds, by rooting up the bracken fern, and 

 making the rough places smooth and lawn-like. 



