OWLS AND DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. 361 
brown with darker bands, while the lower parts are rufous 
brown with slightly darker streaks. 
Bill black, bluish at the gape ; cere greenish-yellow ; iris 
bright yellow ; legs yellow. 
Male: length 17°5; wing 14; tail 8°5; tarsus 3:1; 
mid-toe without claw 1:3; bill from gape 1:10. 
Females are larger : length 18-5; wing 14:5. 
Distribution.—A rare migrant during the north-east: mon- 
soon, recorded from a few localities on the coast, also from 
Ratnapura and the North-Western Province. It occurs in 
Burma and the eastern half of India during the winter, 
and ranges throughout Eastern Asia, breeding mainly in 
the north. 
Habits, &c.—Found quartering over grassy jungles as well 
as over paddy fields and swamps. It has been found breeding 
in Northern India, but is not likely to nest in Ceylon. 
CIRCUS ASRUGINOSUS (Blanford, Vol. ILI., p. 387; 
Legge, p. 5). 
The Marsh Harrier. 
Description.—Adult : Head and neck buff, or rufous, with 
dark brown shaft-stripes ; the back, with the smaller and 
median wing coverts, and at times the tertiaries, dark brown, 
some of the feathers tipped with rufous ; the lesser coverts 
along the bend of the wing are buff with dark shaft-stripes : 
the first six primaries blackish, the remaining wing quills and 
the greater wing coverts silver-gray ; the concealed basal 
portion of all wing quills white ; upper tail coverts white, 
mixed with gray and rufous-brown; tail pale gray. The 
breast is buff with broad brown shaft-stripes ; abdomen and 
lower tail coverts rather streaky rufous-brown. 
In immature birds the plumage is mainly dark brown ; the 
crown, nape, and chin buff with narrow brown stripes ; 
the tail coverts, wing coverts, back, and lower parts 
may have rufous tips to the feathers. In some cases the 
bird is dark brown all over. The adult plumage is gradually 
assumed. 
