100 THE HARRIERS 



THE HARRIERS 

 [W. P. PYCRAFT] 



The term Harrier seems to have been first used for the species 

 known as the " hen-harrier," from the frequency of its raids on poultry. 

 Later the name Harrier became applied to all the species displaying a 

 more or less conspicuous facial disc. Time was when three species of 

 harriers were common in Great Britain, but the reclamation of land, 

 game-preservation, and the collector have all but exterminated these 

 interesting and handsome birds. 



Their most striking peculiarity is the incipient facial disc, already 

 alluded to. This recalls that of the Owls, but is far less developed ; 

 and if the feathers of the facial portion of the disc be raised, just 

 where they impinge upon the marginal or peripheral feathers which 

 surround this disc, a large, sub-conical bare space will be found, 

 which seems first to have been figured by Macgillivray ; but the external 

 aperture of the ear is never greatly enlarged as it is in many owls, nor 

 are the facial feathers so strikingly modified. In that the breast is 

 never transversely barred they resemble the Buzzards and Eagles : the 

 first-named they further resemble in certain phases of their flight, 

 since they are given on occasion to wheeling and sailing aloft. On 

 the ground, however, they have a very distinctive carriage which is 

 determined by the great length of the wings and legs. 



As might be supposed, these three species, which may still be 

 numbered upon the list of British birds, differ somewhat both in their 

 haunts and habits. All affect open country, and for choice marshy or 

 fenny districts, wherein are abundance of their favourite prey, snakes, 

 lizards and frogs, can always be relied on. But of this anon. 



The hen-harrier, the largest of the three British species, is still 

 reckoned a resident among us, but even on the undisturbed moors of 



