76 Messrs. EUves and Buckley on the Birds of Turkey. 



33. Circus /ERUGiNosus (L.). Marsh- Harrier. 



Extremely numerous in every part of the country where 

 marshy ground is to be found, more so than any other bird of 

 prey. The great variety of plumage in this species is at first 

 very puzzling, some of the very old males having the wings and 

 tail of a bluish cream-colour, and in some cases nearly white; 

 Mr. Robson has a specimen whose entire plumage is of a deep 

 brown, almost black. 



84. Circus cyaneus (L.). Hen-Harrier. 

 Tolerably common, but not so much so as the Pale Harrier, 

 which in a great measure replaces it. 



35. Circus swAiNSONi (A.Smith). Pale Harrier. 



Most numerous in the Dobrudscha, where it is so common 

 that a basketful of eggs may be gathered in a day in some of its 

 breeding-places. On the wing it is almost impossible to distin- 

 guish this species from the preceding one ; and the females are 

 almost exactly similar. 



36. Circus cineraceus (Mont.). Montagu's Harrier. 



Not so common as the last, but found in the Dobrudscha and 

 near Constantinople, where Mr. Robson has procured specimens. 



37. Athene noctua (Retzius). Little Owl. 



The commonest Owl in the country ; nearly all the churches, 

 old houses, and ruins being tenanted by a pair. In the after- 

 noon they come out, making a curious squeaking noise, and, 

 when disturbed, go off with a slow undulating flight, like that 

 of a Woodpecker. 



38. Scops giu (Scopoli). Scops Eared Owl. 



Not uncommon near Constantinople, where it breeds, but 

 never observed by us in other parts of the country. 



39. Bubo maximus, Ranzani. Eagle-Owl. 



A common species all over Turkey, especially in the woods of 

 Macedonia and on the treeless downs of the Dobrudscha, w^hich 

 it seems to find as well suited to its habits as more sheltered loca- 

 lities. In this part of the country it chooses a bank of earth on 

 the side of a ravine for its eyr)-^, and scratches out a hole for the 

 eggs in the bare ground, sometimes within sight of every passer 



