MILVIN.E. 53 



Legs and foot rich yellow, dingy or pale greenish-yellow in the 

 young ; the claws brownish-black ; the irides are orange -yellow, 

 sometimes with a pink tinge, deep brown, or brownish-yellow in 

 the young ; the bill is blackish or brownish-black, yellowish at the 

 base, 'and bluish there in the young ; the cere is greenish-yellow, 

 or sometimes pale-greenish, in the young. 



The young bird is uniform dark reddish umber-brown ; in a 

 further stage the head and throat are yellowish, or rufous- white, 

 with dark stipes on the crown ; in some the head is pure white, 

 and the upper tail-coverts and base of the outer tail-feathers 

 are pale reddish. 



In the fully adult the head, neck, and breast are pale rufous, with 

 dark brown stripes, deepening to dark red-brown on the belly 

 and thigh-coverts ; upper tail-coverts marked with red, white, and 

 brown ; the shoulders, secondaries, and tail pure silvery-grey ; 

 back, scapulars and tertiaries deep brown ; primaries black. 



To this Mr. Hume adds that, as the young bird advances to- 

 wards maturity, there first appears a large rufous-fawn, or rufous- 

 white patch upon the breast ; then the rufous, or yellowish-white 

 of the head and nape begins to run down the back of the neck, 

 and margins of a similar color begin to make their appearance 

 on the feathers of the upper back and the smaller wing-coverts ; 

 the color of the upper parts slightly fades, and a greyish tinge 

 begins to overspread the outer webs of the primaries. 



It is probable that the adult plumage, in which the shoulders, 

 secondaries, and tail are silver grey, is only assumed by the 

 male. 



The Marsh Harrier is generally spread throughout the district, 

 and (although a few may possibly remain to breed) is a cold 

 weather visitant only. It frequents marshes, rivers, and lakes, 

 and feeds chiefly on frogs, rats, and water insects. 



It often carries off wounded duck and teal. 



It seems instinctively to know sportsmen, and not infrequently 

 follows them round a tank or jheel, with a view to dinner. I 

 have often, by their help, retrieved wounded birds that would 

 otherwise have been lost to me. 



SUB-FAMILY, Milvinse. 



Bill typically small and weak, occasionally stout, rather straight 

 at the base, and suddenly hooked, or curved from the base, 

 and much hooked at the tip, rounded at the sides and compress- 

 ed only at the tip ; the margin sinuated or toothed ; wings long ; 

 tail short and even, or long and forked ; tarsi short, rather thick ; 

 toes short, broad ; claws moderate, not very unequal. 



GENUS, Haliastur, Selby. 



Bill rather stout, straight over the cere, curved and hooked 

 beyond margin of the upper mandible, festooned (as is very 

 prominently seen in young birds) ; nostrils oval, oblique ; wings 



