54 British BirdSy 



HONEY BUZZARD— (P^r;//j apivonis). 



This never was an abundant species in this country, 

 and instances of its nesting with us are very rare. I 

 well remember, however, when White's " Natural 

 History of Selborne " first fell into my boyish hands, 

 how his history of the lucky bird's-nesting boy, who 

 climbed the " tall, slender Birch-tree," " on the steep 

 and dizzy situation, near the middle of Selborne 

 Hanger," and brought down the only Qgg in the nest, 

 and that " hard set," impressed itself on my attention 

 and memory. The nest was a shallow one, composed 

 of sticks, and lined with dead leaves of the beech. 

 The number of eggs — an illustration of which is given 

 — seldom exceeds two. — Fig. 3, plate II. 



MARSH HARRIER — {Circus CBruginosus ; 

 formerly, C. rufus). 



Moor Buzzard, Bald Buzzard, Marsh Hawk, Harpy, 

 White-headed Harpy, Puttock, Duck Hawk. — One 

 would hardly expect to find that a bird, with such a 

 string of aliases to its name, could enjoy a very whole- 

 some reputation. However, he's no worse than his 

 fellows of the Hawk family, and not so bad as some 

 of them. Probably the name of Harrier, given to this 

 and one or two of the Hawks next named, is derived 

 from their method of beating or quartering the ground, 

 when in search of prey, putting one in mind of the 

 evolutions of the hound similarly engaged. The 

 Marsh Harrier or Moor Buzzard (or Bald Buzzard, as 

 I used to hear it called in Essex) builds its nest of 

 flags or rushes — sometimes sticks or twigs — on the 



