marked into a tree, and approached cautiously, the bird will
be seen sitting along a branch of an oak,- crouching close
down upon it in the line of-the limb <>f fhe^ee; not across it.‘
They appear to be partial to basking on the ground, at the
sunny-side of a-short bush, and if approached they squat
close, seldom flying off till they arc almost trodden'upon, and
then start up as if from under your'feet.>_ ' M. VieiUotésIiys
they arc partial to stony places ; and Mr. Dillwyn; sends- me
word-that at Penllergare -in the dusk of n hot summer’s even--
ing he has frequently seen' this bird alight:in;Thé1 middle of
a road, ’and- flyonwhem disturbed to a similar duskyispdt;
only a few yards in advance; and the object.a^peiaired^to-be to
rub him self d i^ f the GclIHtue in the duèV' v
Like some'o f 'our - twilight .flying bats, the N ightjay seems
to have a prescribed range pvjer which Bê* constantlyp'seèks his
food, passing at almost'regular intervals, 'by the - samec place
many times in constant 'successrönr When his h au n ffn ^
route are once known; it is nof difficult to ^lfe'^ptaS'elftsoraS
to; see* him in perfection as ’^pwheefe round a favourite/tree,
and he may generallyd>e heard before he i^^e^nfr^W4tdel&>
bird, and various other provincial namea are -dsestowedrtipdn
it, most of them having reference-to;thmjafrih§vnois^vhichÉt
produces; ? The-authors of the Cataloguicof . thé»Birds of
Norfolk and ^Suffolk, printed in the 1 5 th . volumei'~ofx:-thê
Transactions of'^--.Biimean Bócietyysay,rwe have twiétesdën
a Nightjar hawking about in search ofefood in the middle? of
the day; and uponfdnfe.of theséroècasions :the sun was shining
very bright fancLin .the third voluml^at page l^ Jf$ 3 ;fta ted
that this bird was at his feed as late as ten o’clock at night to
the .annoyance of a practical entomologist, who was out after
mpths..
That the row of bristles along each .edge of the upper mandible;
of the beak,— see vighéf4b^A assists dhfe ’bird when
feeding < on the wing, by uncreasing the means.öf capture by
the mouth,-.there can be little doubt, but the use of the serrated
edge on the inner side of the claw of each middle toe is
not so obvious* „ The midd]e i®e of the Nightjar is particularly
dong, the clâw is; flattened and dilated on the inner edge»
and the . marginals divided so as to form a small , comb of
seyemor eight:teeth. .The uses; to which this little instruments
is thought ? tq s||)e|s i^ubs.ervierit are various. White of
Selbome, 'withfwhpm the.Nightjar was a favourite, thus writes
6f it in the»'.commencement of his thirty-seventh letter to his
friend Pennant :—“ On the: twelfth of ;July, I had a fair
opportunity of contemplating. fhiP .motion^ tpf dhe Caprimulr
gais, ,d®Fern-0-vâ%as |i||was playing' round a large' oak that
Swarmed with Scarabai^'sjojsijittalety or fern-chafers. The
powers ofhttk? wing .were, wonderful,; exceeding,; i f possible,IfSii
various eybiu,tiops mnd quickstprns,-of the Swallow genus.
Buk^h%ejfcumstja®ce; that; pleaseibme, most was, that I saw
it;dis1ifiMiy; more : th#n onpfe'put, out its short leg, whilst oh
.the Jglng,vand, byndbend of the he(ad|f deliver' somewhat into
its mouth. If-it tajps .any- part, of its préy with its foot,' „as I
w~the greatest* reason to suppose’ itcdoes, these chafers;
I no.-longênnwondeÿjf.-th^u^&of.'its mid^e^foe,-.which' is
curiously furnished with a;serrated^elay^i’ In ^ tk in so n ’s com-
^pend-ki'fo of the Ornithology of Great Britain,, at page 108;
s|§|a noteion this subject- in corroboration of the yiew of tlie
use-iof the serrated claw taken by White. “ . We-haye wit-
Éëf|^the';sihgular manner „„in. which, this bird take|hts prey,
éonsistingyuf -moths and. b;q§t;hl§;>^hicfe it pursues, withrgreat
ragdlityson^the' wing,’, occasionally, throwing itself backwards,
and. thrusting out its foot,?withfwliieh -it séizes and conveys
to; its. mouth with .great deljberatjpl; probably its serrated
claws may âssist\this opération.” , Othehhs#& hâvh Been
assigned-.:to this* pectinatedr; claw,—namely, to comb out the
hairs s@t along, the;upper, edge of the mouth on each side,-or
tp clear theïdèlieâ^e edges^ahd'anglessof the mouth from the