308 CJECUS CYANEU«: 



the different ranges of their course, that I have placed 

 myself in cover about the time they were expected, of- 

 ten with success ; if they returned at all, they were ne- 

 ver more than a quarter of an hour of variance from 

 their usual time." 



Edwards, in his Gleanings of Natural History, gives 

 the following account of a male bird, which he has 

 figured and described under the name of " tlie Blue 

 Hawk." " When first seen, it was dodging round the 

 lower parts of some old trees, and sometimes seemed 

 to strike against the trunks of the trees with its beak 

 or talons, still continuing on the wing, the cause of which 

 could not be guessed till after it was killed ; when, on 

 opening the bird, near twenty of the above-described 

 lizards were found in its craw, which it had artfully 

 circumvented, by suddenly coming round upon them." 

 The hen harrier is more frequently seen in Scotland 

 and in England, than most of the larger species of tbe 

 family, and, next to the sparrow hawk, the kestrel, and 

 the merlin, may, I believe, be considered as our most 

 common bird of prey. It is stationary in the country, 

 although it shifts its quarters in some measure, fre- 

 quenting the lower or cultivated grounds in autumn 

 and winter, and betaking itself to the higher or pasture- 

 lands in summer. 



Propagation. — At the commencement of the breed- 

 ing season the harriers may sometimes be seen chasing 

 each other on wing. On these occasions they utter 

 a loud clear cry, which resembles that of the kestrel. 

 They also occasionally soar to a considerable heightt, 

 where they sail in circles, like several other species of 



