126 BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



bordered with a lighter shade. Wing-coverts and 

 tertials varjdng, according to age, from dark reddish- 

 brown to ash-grey ; secondaries ash-grey ; primaries 

 varjdng from brownish-black to slate-grey. Tail 

 ash-grey. Chin and throat almost white ; breast and 

 under parts reddish-brown, streaked with dark brown. 

 Legs and toes yellow^ ; claws black. 



The female is larger, and slightly duller in her 

 plumage. Both are subject to variation in colour, 

 according to age. 



Situation and Locality. — On the ground, amongst 

 sedges, reeds, ferns, and under furze and other 

 small bushes ; rarely in trees. On low, marshy, reed- 

 and water-covered land ; also unfrequented moors. 

 Professor New^ton, in the latest edition of Yarrell, 

 issued 1874, says that "the bird breeds regularly 

 in Devonshire, Norfolk, and Aberdeenshire ; " and Mr. 

 Dixon, in his "Nests and Eggs of British Birds," 

 issued just twenty years after, says that Norfolk is 

 the only county in Great Britain in which the bird 

 regularly attempts to breed. This is one among 

 many of the facts which serve to illustrate the 

 rapidity with wdiich our rarer birds are being 

 banished. 



Materials. — Sticks, twdgs, rushes, and reeds in 

 rather large quantities, lined with dead grass. 



Eggs. — Three to five or six. "White, sometimes 

 slightly tinged with pale bluish-green or milk-blue, 

 and upon rare occasions marked wdth a few spots 

 of rusty-red. Size about 1*95 by l*o5 in. 



T 17)16. — May. 



Bemarl-s. — Eesident, but wandering. Notes : 

 male, I'oi or l-ai ; female, j^^^^ jyitz, i:)eep ^;ee/). 

 Local and other names : Duck Hawk, White-headed 

 Harpy, Moor Harrier, Moor Buzzard, Puttock, Marsh 

 Hawk, Bald Buzzard. Sits lightly. 



