652 



SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES — A CCIPITRES. 



Fig. 446. — Ear-parts of Circus, 

 Macgillivray.) 



(After 



The Harriers constitute a small group, of the single genus Circus and its subdivisions (to 

 which soine add the African Pohjboroides) , containing some 15 or 20 species of various parts 

 of the world. 



CIR'CUS. (Gr. KipKos, Jcirkos, Lat. circus, a kind of hawk ; from its circling in the air. Fig. 

 44G.) Harriers. Bill thickly beset with many curved radiating bristles surpassing in length 



the cere, which is large and tumid ; tomia lobed or fes- 

 tooned, but neither toothed nor notched. Nostrils ovate- 

 oblong, nearly horizontal. Superciliary shield promi- 

 nent. Tarsus long and slender, scutellate before and 

 mostly so behind, reticulate laterally ; toes slender, the 

 middle with its claw much shorter than tarsus ; a basal 

 web between outer and middle ; all tuberculate under- 

 neath ; claws very large and sharp, much curved. Wings 

 very long and ample; 3d and 4th quills longest; 1st 

 shorter than Gth; outer 3-5 (in our species 4) emargi- 

 nate on inner webs ; 2d-5th emarginate on outer webs. Tail very long, about f as long as 

 wing, nearly even or rounded ; folded wings falling short of its end. In our species, which 

 differs little from the European C. cyaneus, the sexes are extremely unlike in color and size ; 

 old $ chiefly bluish-gray and white ; 9 ^nJ young of both sexes dark brown and reddish- 

 brown or tawny, with white rump; 9 is much larger than $ . Nest placed upon the ground ; 

 eggs colorless or nearly so. Harriers are among the most " ignoble" of Hawks, preying upon 

 humble quarry, chiefly small quadrupeds, reptiles, and insects, for which they hunt by quarter- 

 ing low over the ground with an easy gliding flight. They are " light-weights " in proportion 

 to their linear dimensions, all the members being lengthened, the wings especially ample. 

 The plumage is also loose and fluffy, somewhat like that of Owls, to which the Harriers are 

 related in several respects. 



C. liudson'ius. (Lat. Imdsonius, of Hudson's Bay. Fig. 447.) American Marsh Hawk, 

 or Harrier. Blue Hawk. Mouse Hawk. Adult $ : In perfect plumage pale pearly- 

 bluish, or bluisli-ash, above, 



with the upper tail-coverts en- 

 tirely white ; but most speci- 

 mens have a dusky wash ob- 

 scuring the bluish, and retain 

 traces of brown or rufous. Five 

 outer primaries mostly black- 

 ish, all of them and the secon- 

 daries with large white basal 

 areas on inner webs ; tail-feath- 

 ers banded with 5 or 6 obscure 

 dusky bars, the terminal one 

 strongest and most distinct, and 

 marbled with white toward 

 their bases. The bluish cast 

 invades the fore under parts. 



t*'^\'- 



Fig 447 —Marsh Hank, nat. size. (Ad. nat. del E C.) 



the rest of which are white, with sparse drop-shaped rufous spots ; lining of wings white. 

 From this blue-and-white state the bird is found grading by degrees into the very different 

 plumage of the 9 and young : Above, dark umber-brown, everywhere more or less varied 

 with reddish-brown or yellowish-brown ; upper tail-coverts, however, white, forming a very 

 conspicuous mark ; under parts a variable shade of brownish-yellow, or ochraceous, streaked 

 with umbor-brown, at least on breast and sides ; tail crossed with 6-7 blackish bars. The 



