COMMON HARRIER. 307 



tug at the pectoral muscle to a fruitless dab into the 

 brain of his victim. 



JVIi* Slaney, in his very pleasing little work, entitled 

 " An Outline of the smaller British Birds," states, that 

 the common harriers " are very destructive to game. 

 In shooting, the writer has seen tjie hen harrier dart at 

 a partridge which his dogs put up, and carry it off. By 

 following the marauder some distance he got the part- 

 ridge, which was quite dead, with a very slight mark on 

 the head. Another day he shot the ring-tail, and on 

 examining the spot where the hawk got up, found a 

 partridge half devoured. This had been killed, as ap- 

 peared by the feathers, at a little distance, but carried 

 to the edge of a plash of water, where the plunderer 

 had an opportunity of washing his beak and claws be- 

 tween every mouthful, and eating his quarry like a 

 gentleman ! — or rather, in this case, a lady." 



Sir William Jardine, however, states, that " they 

 never take their prey on the wing; but when pursuing 

 it, make a slight dash, and follow it to the place chosen 

 for refuge." " I once shot," he continues, " an old fe- 

 male which had driven a covey of partridges into a 

 thick hedge, and was so intent upon watching her prey, 

 that she allowed me to approach openly from a distance 

 of nearly half a mile. They are often met with about 

 the sea-coast ; and I have seen one repeatedly come to 

 the stake-nets on the Solway Firth, and eat the dead 

 fish that were left there. In hunting, they pursue a 

 regular beat or track for many days together. I have 

 repeatedly watched a bird for miles, day after day, fol- 

 low nearly the same line, only diverging on the appear- 

 ance of prey ; and so nearly at one time do they pass 



