40 
- deeper when first laid. The nest was composed of dried twigs and 
stalks of heather as a foundation, and very nicely lined with straw, 
composed of dried ‘sprits’ (or a kind of rush) and one or two bits 
of dried fern. The straws were nicely laid and bent round, so as to 
take the shape of the nest. The bulk of the whole was small; but 
the cup was decided though shallow. 
“‘The hen rose from the nest when we came nearly opposite to her, 
about 150 yards off. She was a fine large Ringtail, and soared high 
over the hills. The eggs were all just chipped by the approaching 
extrusion of the young. I took one of the eggs, to see the develop- 
ment of the chick; it was quite naked, but the bill perfectly formed. 
The keeper tells me that the whole six eggs were laid twenty-seven 
days ago; therefore it must take about thirty days to hatch them.” 
335 CIROUSICINERASCENS -40) 5.) 6s) 6 soe) Ole eel xexavalele 
AsH-COLOURED HARRIER. 
Although I have called this species by the above appellation, it is 
far better known to British ornithologists by the trivial name of 
Montagu’s Harrier. The wings of this bird are long and curved; 
and its large fan-shaped tail, crossed by numerous chestnut-coloured 
bars, must render it very conspicuous during flight. Judging from 
the result of my own observations, I should say that this is the 
commonest of the Harriers, and that it is certainly the one most 
universally dispersed over our islands. Its breeding-places have 
been found more frequently in Cornwall and other southern and 
western counties than elsewhere. So widely does this bird range 
that it is to be found in most of the countries between Europe and 
China. 
I have mentioned that reptiles form no inconsiderable portion of 
the food of the Harriers, and in confirmation I may quote the fol- 
lowing passage from a letter addressed to me by my friend Mr. 
Gatcombe, on the 3rd of May, 1872:—“ A few days since, I had a 
fine old male Montagu’s Harrier brought to me. It was killed on 
Dartmoor ; and from its crop and stomach I took no less than fourteen 
lizards, of two kinds, all nearly perfect, and each full 6 inches long.” 
Family STRIGID. 
In round numbers there are about 200 different species of Owls 
distributed over the surface of the globe, only twelve of which were 
known to Linneeus, by whom they were included in one genus, Striz. 
The entire group are now divided into two great divisions, Nocturni 
and Diurni, and these again into minor subfamilies, genera, and 
subgenera, just as the ornithologist may please to consider them. In 
England there are ten species, belonging to as many genera. As might 
be supposed, so large a family of birds vary in size from that of a 
small Eagle to that of a Sparrow. So extensively are they distribu- 
ted over the world, that it is almost only in the arctic and antarctic 
