41 



MARSH HARRIER. 



MOOR HARRIER. MOOR BUZZARD. WHITE-HEADED HARPY. PUTTOCK. 



DUCK HAWK. 



PLATE XX. 



Circus rufus, BRISSON. SELBT. 



Falco ceruginosus, LINN.EUS. PENNANT. 



Falco arundinaceus, B ECKSTEIN. 



TOWARDS the end of the month of March the nidification of this 

 species commences, and incubation in April: the young are hatched 

 in May. 



The nest is usually built among the high reeds which fringe the 

 margin of the lake, pond, or swamp; in a tuft of rushes, fern, or 

 furze; occasionally on a mound, at the edge of a bush, on the top of 

 the stump, or in the hollow of the branches of some tree in any 

 of the former situations. It is a rude fabrication, and is composed of 

 sticks, with reeds, flags, sedge, rushes, grass, or leaves, sometimes 

 forming a mass a foot and a half above the ground. 



The eggs are from three to five in number, slightly tapered at one 

 end, and generally perfectly white, or white with a slight tinge of 

 blue: some are very faintly and slightly blotted with pale green, 

 and others with pale brown. Bewick says that they are irregularly 

 spotted with dusky brown; and Mr. Macgillivray describes some he 

 had seen which had a few faint ligrht brown marks. 



VOL. I. 



