FLIGHT OF THE HARRIER 267 



Norfolk," which appeared in the Zoologist, of 

 March, 1898, will be found of interest : 



" Mr. Lee had also the chance of watching a pair 

 of Montagu's Harriers which were breeding, and of 

 seeing the grey male hover some seventy feet above 

 the marsh where the female was sitting, and then 

 drop prey probably a mouse which its mate, 

 quickly rising, caught in the air." 



The flight of the Harrier is particularly graceful, 

 its buoyancy on the wing reminding one somewhat 

 of the Barn Owl when hawking over meadows of 

 an evening. 



The nest in the illustration was in a large field 

 of reeds, some of these standing seven or eight 

 feet high and growing very thickly together. The 

 nest was placed in a small opening among these, 

 and was composed of dried reed-stems gathered 

 by the birds from the immediate vicinity, and just 

 trampled into shape. I believe that, as a rule, the 

 birds add more material as incubation proceeds. 

 The eggs in the nest shown were almost white, 

 but had a slight bluish tinge, and there were 

 some small reddish-brown spots upon them. 



This species, which was first discovered by 

 George Montagu, a naturalist who lived in the 



