THE FERN OWL. 
65 
the palm. Another use has been also assigned to 
these toothed-claws, — that of enabling them to carry 
off their eggs, if disturbed : some naturalists as- 
serting that they have such a power, and have been 
actually seen in the act of flight with eggs in their 
claws ; but the fact has been denied by others. That 
it is not impossible, however, even for birds without 
such claws, to remove their eggs, we can vouch from 
good authority; for a Pheasant having laid her eggs 
in a fallow field, became dissatisfied with her situa- 
tion, and removed them to a less frequented spot in 
the same field, where she deposited them in another 
nest, which she had previously scraped together. 
With all these united powers, swift and silent too 
in flight as it is, no wonder that this bird makes 
such havoc amongst the, to us nearly invisible, mul- 
titudes that people the silent air on a summer s night. 
At twilight, it may sometimes be seen at work, 
flitting about, hovering now over one spot, then over 
another, occasionally dropping or tumbling over, as 
if shot ; this is the moment, when having seized 
a moth, the bird reaches it to its mouth, and loses 
its balance, when again rising, it glides away like 
a ghost, till lost in shade. We have but one species 
visiting England, but in foreign countries there 
are many. In South America, particularly, they 
abound : the curious retreats of one species of these 
birds are thus described by the celebrated traveller, 
M. De Humboldt, who visited a dark chasm in the 
rocks called the Cavern of Guacharo, frequented by 
a species ( Caprimulgus steatornis) whose young 
were caught to furnish oil 
u A frightful noise, made by these birds, issued 
VOL. II. f 
