COMMON HARRIER. 229 



of the manners of this bird, which later observa- 

 tions have confirmed, and we now copy this, 

 rather than attempt to rewrite the substance in 

 other words. " The habits of the British Harrier 

 differ considerably according to the district they 

 inhabit. In a country possessing a considerable 

 proportion of plain and mountain, where I have 

 had the best opportunities of observing them, 

 they always retire at the commencement of the 

 breeding season to the wildest hills, and during 

 this time not one individual will be found in the 

 low country. For several days previous to com- 

 mencing their nest, the male and female are seen 

 soaring about, as if in search of or examining a 

 proper situation, are very noisy, and sport with 

 and cuff each other in the air. When the place 

 is fixed, and the nest completed, the female is left 

 alone, and when hatching, will not suffer the 

 male to visit the nest ; but, on his approach, 

 rises, and screaming, drives him to a distance. 

 The nest is made very frequently in a heath bush, 

 by the edge of some ravine, and is composed 

 of sticks, with a very slender lining. It is some- 

 times also formed in one of those places called 

 scars, or where there has been a rush on the side 

 of a steep hill after a mountain thunder shower ; 

 here little or no nest is made, and the eggs are ] 

 merely laid on the bare earth, which has been 

 scraped hollow. The young are well supplied 

 with food, we believe by both parents ; and 



