HARRIERS 



227 



The hen-harrier flies low across the fields in search of prey, frequently pausing to 

 hover, sometimes turning in a circle, sometimes dropping to the ground as if to 

 seize some object, then rising again, and, as soon as it espies a victim, suddenly 



f\ 



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swooping down, and seldom without 

 success. Avoiding trees, it shelters 

 for the night in some cornfield or 

 bush, and flies over its haunts for 

 certain hours daily. Both in Ger- 

 many and Hungary the hen-harrier 

 is now rare, although it is common 

 in Rumania and the Dobrudscha, as 

 well as in Holland. It migrates 

 south in September and returns in March, 



birds remain ; its nesting-area extends over central Europe across Asia to Corea and 

 Japan. In the north it is found in Lapland as a visitor, and in the south of Europe 

 as a migrant ; in Africa it has been traced down to the Equator. 



HEN-HARRIER. 



:mt in mild winters a few solitary 



