LETTER XXXVII 1 



TO THE SAME 



SELBORNE, 1771.* 



DEAR SIR, On the twelfth of July I had a fair oppor- 

 tunity of contemplating the motions of the caprimulgus, or 

 fern-owl, as it was playing round a large oak that swarmed 

 with scarabcei solstittales, or fern-chafers. The powers of 

 it's 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 it's short leg while on 

 the wing, and, by a bend of the head, deliver somewhat 

 into its mouth. If it takes any part of it's prey with it's 

 foot, as I have now the greatest reason to suppose it does 

 these chafers, I no longer wonder at the use of it's middle 

 toe, which is curiously furnished with a serrated claw. 2 



Swallows and martins, the bulk of them I mean, have 

 forsaken us sooner this year than usual ; for on September 

 the twenty-second, they rendezvoused in a neighbour's 

 walnut-tree, where it seemed probable they had taken up 

 their lodging for the night. At the dawn of the day, which 

 was foggy, they arose all together in infinite numbers, 

 occasioning such a rushing from the strokes of their wings 

 against the hazy air, as might be heard to a considerable 

 distance : since that no flock has appeared, only a few 

 stragglers. 



1 This letter forms part of the original letter of Sept. 25, 1771. [R. B. S.] 



2 The use of the serrated claw in the night-jar has been discussed by many 

 ornithologists. It is not likely that the foot has any seizing power, but as the 

 bristles which beset the bird's gape may become clogged with the wings of the 

 insects on which it feeds, it is possible that White saw the bird in the act of 

 clearing its rictal bristles by means of the comb on its claw. [R. B. S.] 



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