HEN HAKRIER. 



PLATE XXI. PIG. I. 



Circus cyaneus, FLEMING. SELBY. 



THE nest of this bird, which, is built on open wastes, and fre- 

 quently in a furze cover, and placed on or near the ground, is 

 composed of sticks rudely put together, sedge, reeds, flags, and other 

 coarse materials. It is made of considerable height, sometimes as 

 much as a foot and a half; possibly, in such cases, a safeguard 

 against floods. One has been known thus raised to the height of 

 four feet perhaps a second storey had been added to a former 

 tenement. 



The male assists the female in the task of incubation. 



The young are hatched early in June: both parents are said to 

 supply them with food. 



The eggs are four or five in number, sometimes six; and most 

 frequently white, or bluish, or greenish white, often slightly marked, 

 and in some instances more distinctly spotted with yellowish brown, 

 or light brown. 



One is thus marked very faintly. 



A second is a good deal blotted with very pale brown at the 

 smaller end. 



A third is most marked with a similar colour at the larger end, 

 with a sort of irregular bar of the same round the egg, a little 

 beyond the middle. 



Bewick describes some as of a reddish colour, with a few white 

 spots. 



