88 OUR RESIDENT BIRDS 



Plumage. Head, back of neck, and upper parts dark 

 brown. Cheek, throat, and sides of neck chestnut, chin 

 black ; under parts greyish white, browner on the flanks. 

 Bill horn-colour. Legs and toes dull green. Length 9^ 

 in. Female similar, but slightly smaller. In winter the 

 chin is white, and the general appearance is paler. 

 Young : duller than adults, streaked with dusky on 

 sides of head. Nestling : covered with down ; black on 

 head, neck and upper parts, striped with rufous ; under 

 parts white. 



Language. Usually rather silent. In the breeding 

 season it utters a rapid chattering cry like "weet," many 

 times repeated. 



Habits. Exceedingly wary, it at once dives for safety 

 if alarmed, taking, if need be, its young ones down with 

 it under the wings. It dives with wonderful abruptness, 

 pursuing fishes under water with remarkable celerity. 

 It seldom flies, but when it does so it skims along just 

 over the surface of the water with rapidly beating wings. 

 Its nest is moored to some reeds or the like, and only 

 just projects above the water, consequently it is simply 

 steeped in water. The eggs are always covered over 

 with wet weeds by the bird before leaving the nest. 



Nest. Early May onwards. Two broods. 



Site. Moored among rushes or reeds. 



Materials. Rotting aquatic herbage of some kind, 

 piled together, and roughly worked into shape. 



Eggs. Three to six. Chalky white when newly laid, 

 but they soon become discoloured and muddied to a 

 dirty brown ; in shape elongated and more or less 

 equally pointed at either end. 



MARSH HARRIER (Circus ceruginosus) . 



Formerly an abundant resident, but now very rare 

 and local. It may still breed very sparingly in Norfolk 

 and some of the southern counties. 



