

MONTAGU'S HARRIER. 1 1 1 



brown ; great wing-coverts dark brown ; lesser wing-coverts 

 lighter brown varied with rufous, and two or three grey foa- 

 thers ; chin, and front of neck, pearl grey ; breast, belly, 

 thighs, and under tail-coverts, white, with a longitudinal 

 rufous stripe on the centre of each feather ; under surface 

 of tail-feathers barred with greyish white and brown ; legs, 

 toes, and claws as in the adult male. 



A young male in the plumage of the first year has the 

 head and neck ferruginous, each feather with a central lan- 

 ceolate patch of dark brown ; back and wings umber brown ; 

 wing-coverts with broad ferruginous margins ; primaries 

 brownish black ; secondaries and tertials tipped with rufous ; 

 upper tail-coverts white, tipped with red ; upper surface of 

 the tail-feathers with five bands of dark brown, and four 

 bands of greyish brown ; ear-coverts uniform umber brown ; 

 chin, throat, breast, belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts, 

 uniform reddish brown ; under surface of wings the same ; 

 under surface of tail-feathers dull reddish white, with four 

 or five bands of brownish grey ; legs, toes, and claws, as 

 in older birds. 



The adult female of Montagu's Harrier measures nine- 

 teen inches ; the beak black ; the cere dull yellow ; the 

 irides hazel ; crown of the head and nape reddish brown, 

 with darker brown spots ; above and below the eye a 

 streak of dull white ; ear-coverts dark brown ; back and 

 wings dark umber brown ; rump and upper tail-coverts 

 mixed with white and orange brown ; upper surface of the 

 central tail-feathers uniform dark brown ; lateral tail- 

 feathers barred with two shades of brown ; breast, belly, 

 and all the under surface of the body, light reddish 

 brown, with longitudinal marks of a darker colour ; legs 

 and toes yellow ; claws black. In very old females 

 of this species the general colour of the plumage is lighter 



