‘The powers of its wing were wonderful....’ 🦉By no means an expert at identifying different species of birds, I get confused trying to identify artists’ depictions: it’s like looking through a filter. It’s even more confusing when birds are known by different names, although in this case I can go back to the original source for the illustration: Gilbert White’s Natural History of Selborne. This is a Nightjar (Caprimulgus)- apparently also known as a Fern Owl, Goatsucker and Goat Milker. The drawing is by John Nash and was first published in 1951 as a black and white line engraving, then in 1972 with lithographed colour added. Nash told a friend that he was ‘hatched off’ with all the detailed cross-hatching. The open-beaked pose catching a fly 🪰 appears over 100 years earlier in a drawing by John Thompson (after Thomas Bewick) for a Victorian edition of Gilbert White’s book. It illustrates a letter written in 1771: “DEAR SIR,—On the twelfth of July I had a fair opportunity of contemplating the motions of the caprimulgus, or fern-owl, as it was playing round a large oak that swarmed with Scarabai solstitiale or fern-chafers. The powers of its 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 dis- tinctly, more than once, put out its short leg while on the wing, and, by a bend of the head, deliver somewhat into its mouth. If it takes any part of its prey with its foot, as I have now the greatest reason to suppose it does these chafers, I no longer wonder at the use of its middle toe, which is curiously furnished with a serrated claw.” Looking forward to the John Nash exhibition at @townergallery later this spring. #johnnash #gilbertwhite #naturalhistory #fernowl #nightjar #selborne #johnthompson #thomasbewick @gilbertwhiteoc (at Brighton and Hove) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNW8Aiol6TT/?igshid=ul7cg6fgbfre
