MARSH HARRIER. 



225 



the habit they have of quartering the ground in their 

 low flight, reminding one of the hounds, when search- 

 ing for a hare. They feed principally upon young 

 water birds — Moor Hens, Peewits, and such like, which 

 abound in their marshy haunts — and they also con- 

 sume large numbers of the eggs of these birds. It 

 never hawks its prey, but always seeks it on the 

 ground, though it is considerably faster on the wing 

 than the Buzzard. 



MARSH HARRIER. 



I am afraid most of our young collectors will not 

 be likely to meet often with this bird, but it seems 

 occasionally to stray after the breeding season is over, 

 for it is described in our Hampshire Birds as a winter 

 visitor to the marshy districts around the New Forest, 

 though it no longer nests with us. It nearly always 

 nests on the ground. The following account I borrow 

 from Seebohm of a nest which he took near Bruns- 



15 



