MONTAGU'S HARRIER 



{circus cineraceus) 



A LTHOUGH Montagu can scarcely be credited 

 -^■*- with the honour of discovering the Harrier 

 which now bears his name, for the bird was 

 unquestionably known to and described by 

 Linnaeus, there can be no doubt that he was the 

 first naturalist to show that the bird was a British 

 species, and to clear up much confusion which 

 then existed concerning another Harrier also breed- 

 ing within our area. The evidence concerning the 

 past distribution of Montagu's Harrier in the 

 British Islands seems to show that the bird was 

 never more than a fairly common summer visitor 

 to the southern and eastern counties of England, 

 and a rarer one to Wales, and as far north as the 

 Solway district, in the south of Scotland. A 

 hundred years ago this species was very much 

 more common than it is now, although comparat- 

 ively recent instances of its breeding are known 



