56 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



apparently dangerous locality for her nursery, as the 

 Harrier's nest was within six or seven paces. This is 

 not the only instance I have met with of game and 

 birds of prey being found in close proximity. 



As will be seen by the specimens in the case, the 

 eye of the male is a bright yellow ; of the female a 

 warm brown ; and in the young a pale blue. 



When first I found this nest it contained five eggs, 

 but on visiting it a fortnight later, there was only a 

 single young bird ; either the eggs or young having 

 been carried off by some Grey Crows, which were 

 breeding in a steep rock at no great distance. 



The whole family were obtained on a moor in the 

 west of Caithness, in June, 1868. 



MARSH HARRIER. (IMMATURE.) 



Case 63. 



I have never to my knowledge seen the adult Marsh 

 Harrier in a wild state. 



Immature birds may, however, be observed com- 

 monly in the autumn hunting over the rough marshes 

 and reed-beds that surround the broads in Norfolk 

 and Suffolk. 



They appear to prey upon small reptiles and 

 wounded fowl that have escaped from the gun, and 

 crawled in among the rushes to die. 



The specimen in the case was shot in the Potter 

 Heigham marshes in the east of Norfolk, in the 

 autumn of 1871. 



