158 LOST AND VANISHING BIRDS 



standing the suitability of the country for this 

 species, it is said by Mr. Ussher only to nest, and 

 that sparingly, in Kerry and Galway, possibly in 

 Antrim, Queen's County, Waterford, and Tipperary. 

 Drainage and enclosure of waste lands has probably 

 contributed to the decrease of the Hen Harrier in 

 lowland and cultivated areas, but its disappearance 

 cannot be attributed to such a cause in the moor- 

 land and mountain haunts it was known to frequent. 

 Here, as indeed elsewhere, it has been ruthlessly 

 shot down and trapped by gamekeepers and land- 

 owners. It is more than probable that the Hen 

 Harrier will soon be banished entirely to the 

 mountainous moors. 



The extra British breeding range of the Hen 

 Harrier extends across Europe and Asia to the 

 north island of Japan, from about the limits of 

 forest growth in the north down to Spain, Central 

 France, the Alps, Carpathians, Turkey, South 

 Russia, Palestine, and Southern Turkestan in the 

 south. Its winter range includes the basin of the 

 Mediterranean, Northern India, Mongolia, China, 

 and Southern Japan. 



There can be little doubt that the Hen Harrier 

 in its prosperous days was principally a summer 

 visitor to the British Islands, although a few birds 



