BRITISH BIRDS' 2^ESTS. 127 



HARRIER, MONTAGU'S. Also Ash-Coloueed 

 Haeeiee. 



Description of Parent Birds. — Length about 

 seventeen inches. Beak short, upper mandible much 

 curved and nearly black. Skin round base of beak 

 bare, and greenish-yellow. Irides bright yellow. 

 Head, neck, back, and wing-coverts bluish-grey. 

 Primaries nearly black ; secondaries marked by 

 three bars. Tail-quills, on the sides, white, barred 

 with bright rust colour ; centre feathers bluish-grey. 

 Chin and throat brownish-grey ; breast, belly, and 

 under parts white, streaked with bright rust colour. 

 Legs and toes yellow ; claws black. The wings are 

 very long and narrow. 



The female is about nineteen inches long. Beak 

 black ; bare skin at base, dull yellow. Irides hazel. 

 Crown and back of head reddish-brown, with spots of 

 a darker tinge. Over and under the eye is a streak 

 of grey. Back and wings dark umber-brown ; rumj^ 

 and upper tail-coverts orange-brown and white. 

 Side feathers of tail barred with brown of two 

 shades ; breast and all under parts light reddish- 

 brown ; claws black. Both sexes of this bird are 

 said to vary considerably, according to age and 

 individual. 



Bituation and Locality. — On the ground, amongst 

 heather, ferns, long grass or rushes, furze, and low 

 brushwood ; on moors and heaths in Norfolk, Kent, 

 Pembrokeshire, Dorsetshire, Hampshire, Devonshire, 

 and Somerset. Very rare, and on a fair way to 

 total extinction, so far as the British Isles are 

 concerned. 



Materials. — Twigs, heather-stalks, straws, and 

 dry grass, sometimes wool, scantily and loosely 



