THE HARRIERS. 127 



by its bluish-grey plumage, white upper tail-coverts, uniform 

 white thighs, and the bluish-ashy colour of the throat and 

 chest. An adult female can always be recognised by having a 

 "scallop," or indentation, on the outer web of the fifth pri- 

 mary quill. This character is also sufficient to tell the young 

 birds of the Hen-Harrier from those of Montagu's Harrier. 



Range in Great Britain. The present species was formerly 

 much more generally distributed as a breeding-species than it 

 is now. Its numbers have been decreased by its being shot 

 down by gamekeepers, and the bringing into cultivation of 

 much of the waste-land in which the species delights has also 

 been one of the chief causes of its diminution in numbers. 

 At one time the Hen-Harrier used to breed in many counties 

 of England and Wales, but in most of these it has ceased to 

 do so for the reasons above-mentioned. In the Highland 

 counties of Scotland the species still nests, as well as in the 

 Orkneys and Shetlands, and also in the Hebrides. In Ireland 

 Mr. Ussher states that it breeds sparingly in Kerry and Gal- 

 way, and possibly still in Antrim, Queen's County, Tipperary, 

 and Waterford, but has become very scarce. It seems to have 

 been exterminated from Donegal and Londonderry. 



Range outside the British Islands. Throughout the greater 

 part of Europe the Hen-Harrier is chiefly known between 

 spring and autumn, and it is probably only in the British 

 Islands that any remain during the winter. It breeds in 

 Northern Europe, and has been noticed by Dr. Collett from 

 East Finmark, and Wolley found it breeding in Lapland beyond 

 68 N. lat, according to Professor Newton. Mr. Seebohm 

 states that he has seen the Hen-Harrier on the tundras of 

 Northern Russia and Siberia, more than a hundred miles 

 beyond the Arctic Circle, and its range extends across Siberia 

 to Corea and the Japanese Islands. In suitable localities the 

 species breeds in Central Europe from Denmark and Ger- 

 many to the Alps and Carpathians, as well as in Central 

 France. In winter it migrates south and visits North-eastern 

 Africa, India, and China, in all of which countries it appears 

 in some numbers in the cold season. 



Habits. The Hen-Harrier is an inhabitant of the fens and 

 moors, where it may be seen quartering the ground in search 



