HARRIERS VARIETY OF PLUMAGE. 89 



and the lower white ; Montagu's bird, however, is 

 distinguished not only by its lighter and more 

 elongated form and tern-like flight, but by a dark 

 belt across the secondaries, and several ferruginous 

 bars on the under wing-coverts. The females are 

 respectively larger than the males, of a brown 

 colour, varied less or more with several shades of 

 yellowish red, the longitudinal spots or streaks on 

 the lower parts becoming more narrow and dis- 

 tinct, and the ground of a lighter tint, as they 

 advance towards maturity. The young of the year 

 resemble the females, but the plumage is less 

 streaked or variegated. The male of the marsh 

 harrier or moor buzzard, although, like others of 

 the genus, subject to a change which may be 

 dated from the first autumnal moult, yet never 

 arrives at that gull-like state of plumage charac- 

 teristic of the other two species; the wings and 

 tail alone, even in very old birds, assuming the 

 bluish gray hue, the head and throat being whitish, 

 and the remaining portion of the body presenting 

 different shades of dark and ferruginous brown. 



Although formerly of common occurrence on 

 the uncultivated heaths of this county, many of 

 which still continue in their primaeval state, the 

 marsh harrier is now one of the rarest of our Fal- 

 conida. I do not know of an adult male having 

 been procured during the last ten years in Sussex, 



