THE EAGLE-LIKE SUBFAMILY 2009 



rier. The pale-chested harrier ( C. macrurus] , of which the male is represented in 

 the right side of our plate, is a slightly smaller bird than either of the last two, 

 from both of which it may be at once distinguished by the white upper tail coverts 

 being banded with gray. The uniformly-colored middle tail feathers distinctive of 

 the males of this group of species are well shown in our plate. The pale harrier, 

 although unknown in Britain, is pretty generally distributed over Europe as far 

 north as the 6oth parallel; it is also found over the great part of Africa, exclusive 

 of the forest regions of the west coast, and eastward ranges into India, Burma, and 

 China. The harrier (C. pygargui) which takes its popular name from the distin- 

 guished ornithologist Montagu, by whom it was first recognized as a distinct spe- 

 cies, and of which a male is represented in the upper figure of the plate, differs from 

 the species referred to above by the white thighs of the male being flecked with 

 reddish brown, and may be still more readily recognized by the three dark bands 

 crossing the secondaries, one of which is visible when the wings are closed. The 

 middle tail feathers are uniform bluish gray, and j;he lateral ones white with reddish- 

 orange bars; the under parts, behind the chest, being colored like the latter. The 

 general color of the female is brown of various shades. Montagu's harrier is 

 lighter and more slenderly built than the hen harrier, and appears to have been the 

 most common of the British species. Its distribution is almost identical with that 

 of the pale harrier. The largest and most powerful of all the three British species 

 is the marsh harrier, or moor buzzard (C. (zruginosus) , in which the female meas- 

 ures twenty-three inches in length. In this species the two sexes are nearly alike 

 at all ages, the prevailing color of the plumage of the upper parts being brown. It 

 may be recognised by the nearly- uniform rufous thighs, and the plain bluish-gray 

 tail of the adult; young birds have the tail brown, with some slight rufous mot- 

 tlings, and lack the blue gray found on the secondaries of the old birds. The distri- 

 bution of the marsh harrier is likewise very similar to that of the two preceding 

 species; this bird ranging from Britain to Japan, and from Siberia to South Africa 

 and India. The draining of the fens and other of its haunts has rendered it a 

 comparatively rare bird in England at the present time. 



Resembling the whistling hawks in the barred plumage of the under 

 Naked- parts, the naked-cheeked hawks of Africa and Madagascar, one of 



which is represented on the left side of the preceding illustration, 

 differ from all the other members of the subfamily in having the re- 

 gion of the mouth and the sides of the face completely devoid of feathers. The 

 African species (Polyboroides typicus) measures twenty-seven and one-half inches in 

 the female, and two inches in the male. Its general color above is dark gray, this 

 tint extending round the neck to occupy the throat and chest, while the remainder 

 of the under parts is marked with rather broad alternating bands of black and 

 white. The head is crested, and the black tail has a narrow white tip, and a 

 broadish band of white at a distance of about one-third from the end. This species 

 has a wide range in Africa; but it is replaced in Madagascar by P. radiatus, distin- 

 guished by its silver-gray color above, and the finer banding of the under parts. 

 These birds prey chiefly upon lizards, snakes, and frogs, and they possess the 

 unique peculiarity of being able to move the ankle joint both forward as well as 



