106 The Harriers 
claws. In fact every time I tried to grab one of them I was met by 
similar tactics accompanied by fierce digs of their sharp little beaks. 
It was in truth difficult to find any spot left unguarded by the four 
beaks and thirty-two sharp claws of these little wretches. Owing 
to their weight, the nest had got flattened down and was more like 
a raft on the surface than anything else. In it was a half-eaten 
water-vole and the remains of some small snakes and frogs. I made 
a water-colour sketch of it, of which the picture here reproduced 
is a facsimile. 
This was one of my unlucky days. True it is I got some 
Harrier’s eggs (there was a second nest hard by with five eggs), 
also | made the acquaintance of young Marsh Harriers for the first 
time. Unfortunately during my absence in the marsh, my horse 
picked up some poisonous herb which caused its death within two 
days, a sad loss to me and one which seriously interfered with my 
ornithoiogical work during the season of 1879. 
