MONTAGU'S HARRIER 209 



specimens have to my knowledge been shot in 

 the neighbourhood of my home. The colour of 

 the upper parts and the breast of this bird is of 

 a pale slate-gray, the under parts white, and the 

 wings black. It is also a resident, though 1 am 

 inclined to the belief that it shifts its quarters 

 from one part of the country to another, according 

 to the season and weather. In some districts 

 it is known as the partridge hawk, being said 

 to kill partridges. Whether this is the case 

 or not I am unable to state, as I have never 

 caught it red-handed ; but I should think that 

 it is perfectly capable of so doing, as its flight 

 is very rapid and powerful. When on the wing 

 hunting, its motions are singularly graceful, turning 

 up at the end of its beat like a swallow, and yet 

 without any decrease of speed. 



Montagu's harrier, so called after a well-known 

 naturalist of that name, is a migrant, arriving in 

 this country in the spring, and leaving in the 

 autumn. In plumage the mature male bird very 

 much resembles the hen harrier, but the under 

 parts, though white, are marked with reddish 

 streaks, and when the wings are closed a black 

 band is observable across the secondary feathers. 

 Its inferiority in size also serves to distinguish 

 it from the marsh and hen harriers. A friend 

 of mine shot one of these harriers in a wood 

 adjoining a covert of my own a year or two ago. 



Although included amongst the Falconidae, and 

 similar in appearance to the other members of 



