174 BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



each feather. Tail-feathers underneath barred with 

 brownish-black and grey. 



Situation and Locality. On the ground, amongst 

 tall heather, furze, and other bushes ; on moors, 

 commons, fens, and on wild, lonely mountain-sides. 

 Its destructive habits amongst game birds have 

 made the gamekeeper an especial enemy, and he 

 has waged incessant war upon it for so long that 

 it is now almost exterminated in England. I have 

 seen its nest in Surrey during 1907, and am pleased 

 to say that the young ones got away safely. It is 

 said to breed in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, and 

 one or two other western counties, Wales, and the 

 north of England occasionally. Its nest occurs 

 most frequently in the Hebrides, Orkneys, and 

 Highlands of Scotland ; also in suitable parts of 

 Ireland. 



Materials. Small sticks, sprigs of heather, and 

 coarse grass ; in sparing quantities where the nest 

 is placed in a dry situation ; but when a low, damp 

 place is chosen, sticks, reeds, sedge, and flags are 

 used in liberal quantities. 



Eggs. Four or five, occasionally six. White, 

 faintly tinged with blue or bluish-green ; on rare 

 occasions slightly marked with light rusty-red or 

 yellowish-brown. They vary in size, and closely 

 resemble those of the Marsh and Montagu's Harriers. 

 Size about 1.75 by 1.45 in. 



Time. May and June. 



Remarks. Formerly resident, now probably only 

 migratory. It arrives in April or May, and departs 

 in September and October. Notes : tremulous and 

 Kestrel-like. Local and other names : Male, Dove 

 Hawk, Blue Hawk, or Miller ; female, Ringtail ; 

 and in the Hebrides a Gaelic name signifying 



