MARSH HARRIER. 99 



found on low and level lands, or uncultivated heaths and 

 moors ; and of the counties within a day's ride of London, 

 examples appear to be most numerous in Cambridgeshire. 

 Their flight, though slow, is smooth, performed with ease, 

 but near the ground; and from the regular manner in 

 which the species of this genus traverse the surface look- 

 ing for prey, like a dog hunting for game, they have pro- 

 bably acquired the name of Harriers. The Marsh Harrier 

 is said to roost on the ground, and may be seen sitting on 

 a stone or low bush, seldom on a branch of a tree, looking 

 out for objects for food, which it strikes when on the 

 ground, and is not very particular in its choice, feeding 

 on young rabbits or other small mammalia, birds, pre- 

 ferring water birds, reptiles, and, according to some 

 authors, occasionally taking perch and other kinds of fish. 

 The nest is placed on the ground, among long coarse grass, 

 in a bunch of rushes, fern or furze, or at the base of 

 a bush. The nest is formed of small sticks, rushes, or 

 long grass : the eggs are three or four in number, of an 

 oval shape, rather pointed at one end, white, two inches 

 one line in length, and one inch six lines in breadth. 



The Marsh Harrier occurs in most of the counties of 

 England and Wales ; in Ireland it has been ascertained, 

 according to Mr. Wm. Thompson, to exist also in several 

 counties from Cork to Antrim : it is found also in Scotland 

 and in the Hebrides. It inhabits Denmark, Norway, Swe- 

 den, and the South of Russia, Germany, France, Holland, 

 Spain, Italy, and Turkey. It is found at Corfu, Sicily, 

 and Malta, and inhabits North Africa from Tripoli, and 

 Algeria as far west as Tangiers. Mr. Strickland observed 

 this species at Smyrna ; and other naturalists have seen it 

 at Trebizond and Egypt. Mr. Gould, in his Birds of 

 Europe, mentions having received specimens of this bird 



H 2 



