3l6 MARSH-HARRIER. 



male, shot on May 12th 1881, has passed through his hands in thirty 

 years; and on November 28th 1883 Mr. J. d. Millais shot a bird of 

 the year in Hoy, Orkneys. In Ireland the species was formerly 

 common about Lough Erne in co. Fermanagh, and along the valley 

 of the Shannon, as well as in co. Cork and other districts ; but now 

 it is only known to nest in Queen's County (where it is protected 

 by Lord Castletown) and a few other areas. 



In Norway the Marsh-Harrier is of accidental occurrence, but it 

 breeds in Denmark and the south of Sweden, while it is found sparingly 

 in summer up to Archangel. In Middle and Southern Russia it is 

 common, and resident in the latter, but from the northern districts 

 it migrates in the cold season, as it does — at least partially — from its 

 summer-haunts in Poland, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium 

 and the north of France. In the marshes of the Spanish Peninsula, 

 Italy, and the rest of Southern Europe it is abundant throughout 

 the year, as it is in North Africa, from Morocco to Egypt ; while in 

 winter it has been observed in Abyssinia, and perhaps even in the 

 Transvaal. Eastward, it passes the summer in the temperate por- 

 tions of Asia as far as the valley of the Ob, Turkestan and Kashmir ; 

 migrating in the cold season to India, Ceylon and Burma. 



The nest, built of reeds and dry grass, is often a large firm 

 structure, on a mass of sedge, but sometimes slight, and occasion- 

 ally on the lower branches of a tree in or on the confines of a 

 marsh. The eggs, 3-5 and even 6 in number, are pale bluish-white, 

 seldom — if ever — with distinct brown markings : measurements i "9 in. 

 by I "5 in. In the season the Marsh-Harrier is a sad destroyer of 

 the eggs and young of waterfowl, while it also takes small mammals 

 and birds ; but during the greater part of the year it feeds largely 

 on frogs and reptiles, and the scarcity of these when the marshes 

 are frozen is one of the causes of its departure from the north of 

 Europe. 



The mature male has the head creamy-white, streaked with 

 umber; mantle brown; primaries blackish; rest of the wings and 

 the tail silvery-grey ; under parts buff, striped with brown on the 

 breast and with chestnut on the belly and thighs ; under-wing white. 

 In the female the tail and under parts are brown. Young birds are 

 chocolate-brown, but the males have the entire crown of the head 

 buffish-white, while the females have a yellowish patch streaked 

 with brown, on the nape only. In subsequent stages the plumage 

 of this species varies greatly. Length: male 21 in., wing 16 in. ; 

 female 22*5 in., wing 16 -5 in. 



