AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 49 



buoyant flight, and generally more red-brown colour 

 of the females and immature birds. In hand, Mr. 

 Howard Saunders has indicated a certain means of 

 distinguishing this bird from the Hen-Harrier, by 

 informing us that in the present species the outer 

 web of the fifth primary has no notch or emargina- 

 tion, as it has in the case of the former bird. I may 

 add that in every instance in my own experience, 

 since I have been possessed of this information, I 

 have found it to be fully verified. 



In the south of Spain Montagu's Harrier is exceed- 

 ingly common during the summer months, and nests, 

 often in small colonies, in the great marshes, as also 

 occasionally in growing corn. Black, or very dark 

 brown, varieties of this bird are by no means uncom- 

 mon ; of this variety I have at this time of writing a 

 fine specimen alive, received with two of the ordinary 

 type of colour from a nest in central France. These 

 Harriers, in my experience, certainly support captivity 

 better than the Hen-Harrier, but require ample room 

 to exercise their wings, as they are very restless and 

 wild. The bird referred to at the commencement of 

 this article is certainly a young one of the year. 



16. TAWNY OWL 



Syrnium aluco. 



This bird, commonly known in this county as the 

 Brown Owl or Wood-Owl, is still, I am glad to say, 

 pretty frequent with us, in spite of the unceasing 

 persecution it encounters from gamekeepers. I can- 

 not, indeed, entirely acquit the Brown Owl of an 

 occasional bit of poaching, but I am convinced that 



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