MONTAGU'S HARRIER. 207 



Family FALCONID^. Genus Circus. 



Sub-family ACCIPITRINM. 



MONTAGU'S HARRIER. 



Circus cineraceus {Montagu). 

 Single Brooded. Laying season, May. 



British breeding area : Montagu's Harrier still 

 occasionally breeds, or more often attempts to do so, in 

 Norfolk, and instances are on record of its havino- 

 recently bred in Wales, and some of the southern 

 counties, from Hampshire in the east to Somerset and 

 Devonshire in the west. 



Breeding habits: There can be no doubt that 

 Montagu's Harrier is a migratory bird in our islands, 

 visiting them in April, and departing for the south again 

 in October. The few places in which this bird breeds in 

 our islands are principally dry moors and rough heaths, 

 similar localities to those so often chosen by the Stone 

 Curlew. It is probable that this species pairs for life, 

 and regularly returns to certain districts to breed, like 

 the Merlin and the Hobby so frequently do. It is not a 

 social bird, each pair keeping to a particular beat and 

 to themselves. The nest is invariably placed upon the 

 ground on a bare spot amongst the heath, or in a little 

 clearing in a gorse thicket. On the Continent a field of 

 corn is frequently chosen. It is merely a hollow in 

 which a little dry grass or a few straws are arranged, 

 round which are a few twigs. Montagu's Harrier is not 

 a very close sitter, and when disturbed usually flies 

 away in gradually widening circles, returning in the 

 same manner when the disturbance has passed, and 

 dropping suddenly into the nest. 



