THE UEN HARRIER. 119 



" Though very destructive to grouse and other game, this bird has one redeeming 

 quaUty, which is, that he is a most skilful rai^cather. Skimming silently and rapidly 

 througli a i-ick-yard, he seizes on any incautious rat who may be exposed to view ; and 

 from the habit this hawk has of hunting very late in the evening, many of these vermin 

 fall to his share. Though of so small and hght a frame, the hen harrier strikes do^vn a 

 mallard without difEculty ; and the marsh and swamp are his favourite hunting-gi-ounds. 

 Quick enough to catch a snipe, and strong enough to kiU a mallard, nothing escapes him. 

 Although so courageous in pursuit of game, he is a wild, untamcablc bird in captivity ; 

 and though I have sometimes endeavoured to tame one, I could never succeed in ren- 

 dering him at all familiar. As he disdains to eat any animal not killed by himself, he 

 is a very difficult bu-d to trap. The best chance of catching him is in what is called a 

 pole-trap, placed on a high post in the middle of an open part of the coimtry ; for this 

 hawk has (in common with many others) the habit of pei*ching on upright raihngs and 

 posts, particularly as in the open plains, where he principally hvmts, there are but few 

 trees, and he seldom perches on the ground. His flight is leism'ely and slow when search- 

 ing for game ; but his dart, when he has discovered his prey, is inconceivably rapid and 

 cei-tain." 



The nest of the hen harrier, consisting of small sticks and coarse grass, is placed on 

 the gi'ound. The eggs are four or five in number, and are either white or of a light 

 blue. Its flight is low, but smooth, gi'aceful, and very swift. As the hen harrier will 

 admit of a nearer approach, so it can be better observed than most of the bu-ds of prey. 



A hen harrier that was shot some years ago near London, was fii-st observed dodging 

 round the lower part of some old trees, and now and then seeming to strike against 

 the ti'unks of them with its beak or talons, but stiQ continuing on the wing. The cause 

 of this veiy singular conduct could not even be guessed till after it was killed, when on 

 opening its stomach, nearly twenty smaU brown lizards were found there, which it had 

 artfully seized, by coming suddenly round upon them. They were each bitten or torn into 

 two or three pieces. 



These desti'uctive birds may be caught by means of a trap, baited with a stufied rab- 

 bit's skin and covered nicely over with moss. They breed annually on the Cheviot Hills ; 

 md from a hen harrier and ringtail having been shot on the same nest, it appears that 

 hese are not two distinct species, however diflerent they may be in appearance, but in 

 eahty the male and female of the same. 



