102 THE HARRIERS 



where, according to the delightful wiles just quoted, many a mallard 

 and snipe are surprised and taken by the inconceivable rapidity of 

 his swoop. No other writer dwells so much on the killing of large 

 birds by the hen-harrier as St. John ; on the contrary, all seem to 

 agree that it preys chiefly on small mammals, small birds, reptiles 

 and frogs, and Yarrell quotes a case of an individual killed near 

 London, from the crop of which no less than twenty lizards were 

 taken. Like the rest of its kin it is a confirmed egg-eater, preying 

 upon all nests within range of its haunts. Macgillivray remarks that 

 he has often seen it come to the stake-nets on the Solway Firth 

 and eat the dead fish there. 



We know little of its courting habits. Macgillivray tells us 

 that at the commencement of the breeding season they may be 

 seen chasing one another and uttering a loud, clear cry like that 

 of the Kestrels. This performance is varied by aerial flights at a 

 great height, the birds soaring and sailing in circles ; and this 

 exercise is continued by the male while his mate is incubating. 

 Further, he remarks that for several days prior to nest-building 

 both; sexes maybe seen soaring about as if in search of a suitable 

 site. 



The smaller Montagu's harrier so closely resembles the hen- 

 harrier that, despite the disparity in size, it has long been confounded 

 with its larger relative, and the discovery of the differences between 

 the two species was made by Montagu. In their habits they 

 also largely agree, though, according to Seebohm and Naumann, 

 Montagu's harrier prefers the dry moor to the swamp, and the 

 cornfield to the reed-bed as a nesting-place. While hunting after 

 the harrier fashion it seems to prey on smaller quarry than 

 its larger relative, being content with mice, lizards, frogs, and 

 grasshoppers, and small birds only when they can be taken by 

 surprise. Eggs seem never to come amiss, and Howard Saunders 

 remarks that he once took from the crop of one of these birds two 

 unbroken eggs of the crested lark, and the crushed remains of others. 



