and some other British Birds. 185 



cealment in the furze, shot in the act of dropping a thrush into 

 the nest, while the female (as he seemed to consider the other, 

 and which he described to be a brown hawk) was covering the 

 young. He afterwards shot at and wounded the female, but 

 could not obtain it. 



Strong as this person's evidence was in our own minds, yet it 

 conveyed no more to the public mind than what had been so re- 

 peatedly asserted on similar authority : being, however, in pos- 

 ' session of the aerie, the means were in our power of fully de- 

 termining the point in question ; and to enable me to observe 

 and note the changes that might take place in the plumage, I 

 undertook the care of the whole brood. 



At this time the two largest had thrown out many feathers, 

 sufficient to discover the plumage of the Ringtail approaching ; 

 the other, by its appearance, must have been hatched much later. 

 In about a month it was evident from size, that there was but one 

 male, so that all my hopes rested upon this single life. As they 

 became full feathered, there was at first no distinction in 

 plumage, but the eyes of the supposed male were always 

 lighter than in the others, whose irides were so dark as not to be 

 distinguished at a small distance from the pupil. In the dress 

 of the Ringtail the whole continued through the winter, when 

 the one which had been weakly from the first, died ; this cir- 

 cumstance induced me to force a premature change in some of the 

 quill and tail feathers of the others, fearing some accident might 

 frustrate my earnest desire of bringing matters to a decisive 

 proof; and about the middle of June I was highly gratified by 

 discovering an appearance of the new feathers in the place *of 

 those which had been plucked out, and that clearly evinced the 

 smallest bird to be a Hen Harrier, and the larger to be a Ringtail. 



Thus I had compelled nature to declare her secrets before the 

 vol, ix. 2 b appointed 



