BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 127 



HARRIER, MONTAGU'S. Also ASH-COLOUEED 

 HAEEIEE. 



Description of Parent Birds. Length about 

 seventeen inches. Beak short, upper mandible much 

 curved and nearly black. Skin round base of beak 

 bare, and greenish-yellow. Irides bright yellow. 

 Head, neck, back, and wing-coverts bluish-grey. 

 Primaries nearly black ; secondaries marked by 

 three bars. Tail-quills, on the sides, white, barred 

 with bright rust colour ; centre feathers bluish-grey. 

 Chin and throat brownish-grey ; breast, belly, and 

 under parts white, streaked with bright rust colour. 

 Legs and toes yellow ; claws black. The wings are 

 very long and narrow. 



The female is about nineteen inches long. Beak 

 black ; bare skin at base, dull yellow. Irides hazel. 

 Crown and back of head reddish-brown, with spots of 

 a darker tinge. Over and under the eye is a streak 

 of grey. Back and wings dark umber-brown ; rump 

 and upper tail-coverts orange-brown and white. 

 Side feathers of tail barred with brown of two 

 shades ; breast and all under parts light reddish- 

 brown ; claws black. Both sexes of this bird are 

 said to vary considerably, according to age and 

 individual. 



Situation and Locality. On the ground, amongst 

 heather, ferns, long grass or rushes, furze, and low 

 brushwood; on moors and heaths in Norfolk, Kent, 

 Pembrokeshire, Dorsetshire, Hampshire, Devonshire, 

 and Somerset. Yery rare, and on a fair way to 

 total extinction, so far as the British Isles are 

 concerned. 



Materials. Twigs, heather-stalks, straws, and 

 dry grass, sometimes wool, scantily and loosely 



