PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 99 



and over the African continent south to Damaraland and Cape Colony, while in 

 Asia it ranges to India, Ceylon and Burma. [F. c. R. J.] 



3. Migration. A summer visitor to the south of England, rarely occurring 

 farther north than Yorkshire, although there are a few records from the south of 

 Scotland. There are also a number of Irish occurrences on record, chiefly for 

 co. Wicklow, or adjacent districts, in the autumn months. A gregarious migrant 

 which, on the Continent, often forms large flocks. (Cf. Saunders, III. Man. B. B., 

 second edition, 1899, p. 319 ; and Witherby and Ticehurst, British Birds, vol. i. 

 p. 318). [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. The sites are very variable, and in England the 

 nest is usually found on moorland, among heather or gorse, and occasionally in 

 growing corn. In Southern Europe it may be found in bramble thickets, some- 

 times a foot or two from the ground, and at other times in floating vegetation in 

 reed-beds and marshes. The amount of material used also varies greatly : some- 

 times only a few twigs and grasses arranged in a circle ; at other times large masses 

 of reeds, sedge, and dead vegetation or grasses and twigs. (PI. LXH.) In South Spain 

 and North Africa the nests may be found in colonies, but, as a rule, single pairs 

 only are to be found. The share of the sexes in building seems not to have been 

 recorded. The eggs vary as a rule in number from four to six, and are slightly 

 smaller than those of the hen-harrier; but as their measurements overlap, they 

 cannot always be distinguished. In colour they are a pale bluish, without gloss, 

 and sometimes show more or less distinct red-brown markings. Average size of 

 100 eggs, 1'63 x 1'28 in. [41 '4 x 32-6 mm.]. Little seems to have been recorded as 

 to the share of the sexes in incubation, but the hen evidently takes the greater 

 share, if not the whole duty. The period is also not known. In England the 

 breeding season is later than that of the hen-harrier, and eggs are rarely met with 

 before the last days of May or the beginning of June, but in the south of Spain 

 full clutches may be found by the end of April. Only one brood is reared during 

 the season. [F. c. B. J.] 



5. Food. Mice, small birds, eggs, lizards, vipers, frogs, grasshoppers. The 

 young are fed on mice, small birds, and frogs (see p. 103). [w. P. P.] 



