MARSH HARRIER. 107 



The whole length of a Marsh Harrier is from twenty- 

 one to twenty -three inches, wing fourteen and a half inches, 

 the difference in size depending on the sex of the speci- 

 men. The figure here given was taken from an adult 

 male bird in the British Museum, in which collection 

 there are examples of various ages. In an adult male, 

 the beak is bluish black, with a slight festoon on the cut- 

 ting edge ; the cere and irides yellow ; the top of the 

 head, cheeks, and nape of the neck, yellowish white, 

 tinged with rufous, and streaked with dark brown; the 

 back, wing-coverts, and tertials, dark reddish brown, with 

 lighter margins ; the primaries brownish black ; the se- 

 condaries and all the tail-feathers ash grey. This state of 

 plumage is not assumed till the third moult. In birds that 

 are still older, the wing-coverts and tertials in addition 

 become partially or entirely ash grey ; the wing primaries 

 slate grey ; the chin and throat nearly white ; the breast 

 rufous, streaked longitudinally with dark brown ; belly, ' 

 thighs, and under tail-coverts, reddish brown, each feather 

 streaked with dark brown; the legs long, slender, and 

 yellow ; the toes yellow ; the claws sharp and black. 



In young birds of the year, the whole of the plumage is 

 chocolate brown ; the feathers tipped with lighter reddish 

 brown : the irides at this age are darker in colour than in 

 the adult bird ; the legs and feet as in old birds. 



In the second year, the head, neck, chin, and throat 

 become dull yellow, with an occasional patch of the same 

 colour on the carpus, or anterior point of the wing. The 

 figure by Bewick represents a bird in its second year. 



Duck Hawk, Harpy, and White-headed Harpy, are 

 names occasionally bestowed on the Marsh Harrier. 



