NOTES ON BIRDS OF PREY. ~ 601 
Owl, stoop now and again, but soon fly off. The day they 
spend in looking after booty, and it is not rare to see six or 
seven cruising about at the same moment. From six in the 
evening until twilight has quite fallen is the time at which 
they hold their final hunt, and then they stoop merrily at the 
Owl. Neither shots nor even the sight of the death-throes of 
their comrades frighten them, and birds that have been 
missed renew their savage onslaughts. At this time one can 
pass them in review, and see what large numbers frequent 
these heaths. One evening I counted thirteen sitting close 
together on a newly-mown meadow, and a great many more 
were cruising round about. As soon as it begins to get 
dark they come from all directions to the Neugraben, and 
flying close to the ground skim over the embankments and 
vanish among the reeds and bushes. 
The habits of the Montagu’s Harriers are precisely similar, 
but though there are plenty of them they are not present in 
such great numbers as the Marsh-Harriers. Singularly 
enough, [ only saw one male in the beautiful pale plumage, 
all the others being clad in the brown dress of the female or 
the dirty grey-brown of the immature bird. 
The beautiful Steppe-Harrier (Circus pallidus) also shows 
itself in considerable numbers, and is the keenest and most 
foolhardy of all in attacking the Eagle-Owl. One sees many 
of them, especially in the evening just at sunset, when they 
come from the fields to the Neugraben with a swift gliding 
flight only a yard or two above the ground, and as soon as 
they catch sight of the enemy in the neighbourhood of their 
sleeping-quarters they let go at him with a vengeance. 
Among the many Steppe-Harriers that I have seen here 
during the last few days there was not one in the pale 
plumage, but all were brown with pale yellow underparts 
and beautiful dark borders round the eyes and beak. 
I have yet to relate a remarkable incident that greatly 
