NOTES ON BIRDS OF PREY. 601 



Owl, stoop now and again, but soon fly off. The day they 

 spend in looking after booty, and it is not rare to see six or 

 seven cruising about at the same moment. From six in the 

 evening until twilight has quite fallen is the time at which 

 they hold their final hunt,- and then they stoop merrily at the 

 Owl. Neither shots nor even the sight of the death-throes of 

 their comrades frighten them, and birds that have been 

 missed renew their savage onslaughts. At this time one can 

 pass them in review, and see what large numbers frequent 

 these heaths. One evening I counted thirteen sitting close 

 together on a newly-mown meadow, and a great many more 

 were cruising round about. As soon as it begins to get 

 dark they come from all directions to the Neugraben, and 

 flying close to the ground skim over the embankments and 

 vanish among the reeds and bushes. 



The habits of the Montagu's Harriers are precisely similar, 

 but though there are plenty of them they are not present in 

 such great numbers as the Marsh-Harriers. Singularly 

 enough, I only saw one male in the beautiful pale plumage, 

 all the others being clad in the brown dress of the female or 

 the dirty grey-brown of the immature bird. 



The beautiful , Steppe-Harrier ( Circus pallidus) also shows 

 itself in considerable numbers, and is the keenest and most 

 foolhardy of all in attacking the Eagle-Owl. One sees many 

 of them, especially in the evening just at sunset, when they 

 come from the fields to the Neugraben with a swift gliding 

 flight only a yard or two above the ground, and as soon as 

 they catch sight of the enemy in the neighbourhood of their 

 sleeping-quarters they let go at him with a vengeance. 



Among the many Steppe-Harriers that I have seen here 

 during the last few days there was not one in the pale 

 plumage, but all were brown with pale yellow underparts 

 and beautiful dark borders round the eyes and beak. 



I have yet to relate a remarkable incident that greatly 



