3Y 
Ornithologists have divided the Harriers into five different genera ; 
and even the three which inhabit Britain have each received a 
separate generic title, a procedure which may seem superfluous to 
some persons; but before placing his veto upon it each objector 
should have all the known species before him, when he would per- 
ceive that the great Marsh Harrier, with its brown plumage, differs 
considerably from the slender ash-coloured bird with its barred tail, 
and both from the uniformly coloured and stouter built Hen-Harrier. 
Knowing how strong the feeling is against the multiplication of 
generic terms, I have in this work retained them all in the genus 
Circus. 
Si, Circus #RuGINOSUS.. . . . . Vol. -. Pls. XXIV. & XXYV. 
Marsu Harrier. 
The draining operations which have been carried on of late years 
in various parts of the country have rendered many of the districts 
formerly adapted for the well-being of this and many other species 
no longer tenable by them; and from the great antipathy to this 
bird exhibited by every land-owner and game-keeper, it is now be- 
coming scarce in this country; but in Holland and other low coun- 
tries of Europe, Africa, India, and China it still holds its own. The 
plumage of the yearling and adult birds differs so greatly that I have 
been induced to give two plates in illustration of these peculiar 
phases in their history. 
32. CIRCUS CYANEUS . ng SO ee RO AGE 1G TA DOA 
Hen-Harrier. 
Formerly much more numerous than at present, the all-destroying 
hand of man being directed towards its extermination ; but it still 
exists in its usual numbers in Scotland, where, Mr. Robert Gray 
states, 1t is very common “on all the islands of the Outer Hebrides 
group, and also throughout the inner islands, Skye, Mull, Islay, Jura, 
&c., where it is known by the Gaelic name of Clamhan luch, signify- 
ing mouse-hawk,” and adds that he has “seen twelve or fourteen 
specimens in one day on Benbecula and North Uist, where its hunting- 
grounds are of a similar nature.” 
The following note on the nesting of this species, from the pen of 
the Duke of Argyll, will be found of interest. Writing to me respect- 
ing some nests of two or three species of Fulconide observed by him 
at Inverary early in June 1868, his Grace says:—‘‘ The Harrier’s 
nest is on the face of a steep bank covered with long heather, and fall- 
ing into astream of considerable size. The nest itself is placed on a 
little bare shelf or ledge of Sphagnum moss, and with none of the 
heather bending over or concealing it; but the nature of the ground 
is such that it is not visible from the opposite bank of the stream ; 
and on its own side the face is so steep that it would not be seen 
unless one were to come a few feet above it; but to birds flying 
over, the nest must be a conspicuous object. It contained six eggs, 
pure white, but with a slightly bluish tinge, which, I am told, is 
