70 THE BIRDS OF DEVONSHIRE. 



the young have never been taken and bred up 

 to ascertain the fact," i.e. ichether the " Ringtail " 

 was really the female Hen Harrier. The significance 

 of this comment was shown in 1807 ; on the 5th of 

 May, in that year, Montagu read a paper on " Some 

 interesting additions to the Natural History of 

 Falco cyaneus and hyaryus '' (Linn. Soc. Trans. Vol. 

 IX. p. 182). He stated that a servant of his friend 

 the Rev, Mr. Vaughan found a nest of this Harrier, 

 composed of sticks rudely put together, nearly flat, 

 and placed on some fallen branches of furze. It 

 contained one addled egg and three very small 

 young ones, covered with white down. The old 

 male was shot and the young were taken in due 

 course. " In about a month it was evident from 

 size, that there was but one male." A female died, 

 but the male and second female lived into the 

 following year, and satisfied their owner that the 

 "Ringtail" was the female Hen Harrier, The 

 researches of Dr. Hey sham of Carlisle, had in 

 reality set the matter at rest some years earlier, 

 but Montagu deserves all credit for his successful 

 experiment. 



At the present time the Hen Harrier is, 

 unfortunately, a rare bird in Devonshire, though 

 the Rev M. A. Mathew believes that it still nests 

 within our faunal limits. He records a fine male 

 killed near Barnstaple, in April 1866 ; the late Mr. 

 J. H. Gurney examined an unusually pale female, 

 killed at Haccombe, May 1871 (Zool. 1866. p. 267). 



