66 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



creature seen at 

 broad light of day. 



rest during the 



NIGHTJAR'S KQC.B. 



The Fern Owl has a serrated claw 

 on the middle toe of each foot, but for 



what purpose it has been made saw- 

 like is not clearly known. Naturalists 

 have evolved all kinds of ingenious 

 theories to explain its purposes such as, 

 that it is used as an aid in catching prey, 

 to comb the bristles growing round the 

 base of the upper mandible, to assist 

 in maintaining its position on a bough, 

 and so forth but, without definite 

 evidence, none of them appears con- 

 vincing. 



The so-called song of this species 

 consists of the continuous repetition of 

 a single jarring note, which has been 

 compared to the noise of a spinning-wheel 

 by some observers, and to gas bubbling 

 through water by others. It may be 

 heard during a calm evening when the 

 vocalist is nearly half a mile away. 



A pair of these interesting birds will 

 return to the same breeding place year 

 by year with the utmost regularity. 



