EGOS AND EQQ-COLLECTINQ. 87 



THE HEN HARRIER. 



GAME-preserving has proved a disastrous business to this 

 bird, and it now only breeds in a few of its old strongholds, 

 such as Cornwall, Wales, the Highlands, Orkneys, and 

 Hebrides, where I have met with it. Its nest is composed 

 of sticks, sprigs of heather, dry grass, and wool, and is 

 placed upon the ground in deep heather. The eggs number 

 from four to six, of a pale bluish-white colour, rarely 

 marked with a few reddish-brown spots. 



THE MARSH HARRIER. 



STICKS, reeds, and sedge are the materials used by this bird 

 for building its nest, which is situated on the ground, 

 although instances have been reported of it occurring in a 

 tree. It is said to still breed in Norfolk and the West of 

 England. The eggs number three or four, sometimes as 

 many as six, it is said. They are greyish- white, slightly 

 tinged with light bluish-green, and occasionally marked 

 with rusty brown. 



THE HOBBY. 



THIS bird still breeds in very small numbers in the Mid- 

 lands and in the Eastern Counties. It selects the old nest 

 of a Crow, Wood Pigeon, or Magpie, and deposits its three 

 or four eggs in it without any attempt at nest-building. 

 The eggs are yellowish- white in ground colour, but this 

 is almost entirely hidden by the thick marking of reddish- 

 brown. 



