3o8 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



ignored. Occasionally the bird soars to a great height, rising 

 with wide sweeps, almost like a Buzzard ; the tips of the wings 

 recurve, the primaries stand apart. 



The nest, a large platform raised above the water or soaking 

 marsh, is built of sticks, reeds and sedges, lined with smaller 

 blades of aquatic plants ; it is usually in a dense bed of reeds 

 or other vegetation. Three to five whitish or pale blue eggs 

 (Plate 125) are usually laid, at the end of May in Britain, though 

 on the Continent in April or even March. The fierce little 

 nestlings are clothed in white down (Plate 128). The female is 

 said to incubate and the male to feed her, and both birds hunt 

 for the young. The male will feed the female before the eggs 

 are laid ; I watched a pair when nest-building had only just 

 begun, and the male brought food to the selected spot, called 

 and dropped ; shortly afterwards the female rose and, flying to 

 a bush, settled and began to devour some prey, presumably this 

 offering. The Marsh-Harrier is, as a rule, a silent bird, and the 

 only note I heard, though I saw both birds repeatedly, was this 

 call to the female, a double note, which sounded to my ears, 

 tli-keeah. Dresser gives the cry of the male as keew. This 

 pair of birds had frequent scuffles with two pairs of Montagu's 

 Harriers which were nesting in the vicinity. 



The adult male Marsh- Harrier is, usually, dark brown on the 

 back and mantle, rufous on the rump, neck and wing-coverts, with 

 dark-brown centres to the feathers. The primaries are brownish 

 black, the secondaries and tail ashy grey. The huffish head 

 and face are surrounded by a frill, a partial facial disc. The 

 under parts are reddish brown, buff or almost white, streaked 

 with dark brown ; the thighs noticeably rufous. The bill is 

 brownish black, the cere, legs and irides yellow. The female 

 is a browner bird, lacking the grey on wings and tail, and her 

 head is darker. According to some writers her irides are 

 reddish yellow, and they are certainly darker, reddish brown, 

 in the immature bird, The young are even more variable than 



