AUTUMN ON THE MOORS 229 



brother and I had just killed four or five brace in the open 

 over dogs. For this we had undoubtedly to thank the 

 harrier, which had apparently hunted the same ground up- 

 wind, right in front of us. 



On only two other occasions have I observed harriers 

 on the Borders. One, a female, in September ; the other, 

 an adult male, June 1st, 1884. This latter I raised on a 

 wide low-lying bog, and afterwards followed and put him 

 up several times, each time carrying some prey in his 

 claws. Though I have never succeeded in proving the hen- 

 harrier's nesting on the moors within recent years, it may 

 yet have done so on occasion. Its geographical distribu- 

 tion rather favours the probability : for it is strictly a winter 

 migrant to southern Europe, while on the continent, its 

 breeding- range, where undisturbed, extends far further 

 south than the Borderland. There would therefore be 

 nothing surprising if a few pairs did nest amidst all that 

 wide expanse of fell and llowe, and there are leagues of it 

 whereon a gamekeeper scarcely sets foot in spring. 



Montagu's Harrier {Circus ciueraceus). — The occur- 

 rence of this species in the north of England, and 

 especially its attempting to nest there, is so exceptional 

 an event that a recent instance should not pass unrecorded. 

 The record unfortunately begins and ends, as usual, with 

 the destruction of the bird at the hands of a gamekeeper. 

 My authority is a letter published in the Newcastle Daily 

 Journal of August 8th, 1905, the details which were given 

 being subsequently corroborated : though I had no oppor- 

 tunity of identifying the bird myself. " A fine female 

 specimen," the letter states, "of this rare harrier was shot 

 on the moors of Coquetdale in Northumberland. The 

 keepers had been aware of its presence for some weeks and 

 accused it of having actually dragged the sitting grouse 



