34 OUR RARER BIRDS 



plumage, black wings, and white underparts. It is still a 

 summer visitor to some of the wildest and most secluded 

 mountain districts. It loves the lonely moors, and delights 

 to beat along the hillsides. It feeds on small birds, mice, 

 frogs, and insects, and also robs of its contents any nest (eggs 

 or nestlings) it may chance to meet with in its wanderings. 

 I have taken the Hen Harrier's nest amongst the tallest 

 heather on the hillsides in Skye. It is rather a bulky 

 structure, almost exclusively made of heather stems, and lined 

 with a little fine grass. The eggs are laid towards the end 

 of May, are four or five in number, and resemble those of the 

 Marsh Harrier, but are a little smaller. Many nests of this 

 species are trodden underfoot by sheep and cattle. The Hen 

 Harrier is remarkably graceful in its movements, and is very 

 conspicuous as it beats up and down the moors in quest of 

 food. Like the Merlin it returns year after year to its old 

 nesting-place, but a fresh nest is made every season, so far 

 as my experience of this species extends. 



