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MARSH HARRIER. 



MOOR BUZZARD. WHITE-HEADED HARPY. PUTTOCK. 

 DUCK HAWK. 



Circus rnfus, BRISSON. SELBY. 



Falco ar'uginosus, LINN.EUS. PENNANT. 



" arundinaceus, BECHSTEIN. 



Circus The Greek name of some species of Hawk. 

 Rnus Red. 



WHY the birds of the genus at which we have now arrived 

 should be called Harriers more than any others of the Hawk 

 family, I know not. Yarrell suggests that the origin of the 

 name has probably been derived from their beating the ground 

 somewhat in the manner of a dog hunting for game. Their 

 natural order is certainly in close proximity to the Owls ; the 

 most remarkable 'feature 1 of similarity being the ruff-like circle 

 of feathers round the face, somewhat after the fashion of 

 what in the human subject is called a calf-lick, and which is 

 set up or depressed by the voluntary action of the bird. 



These Harriers are found in the temperate regions of three, 

 if not four quarters of the globe. They are common in Norway 

 and Sweden, Denmark and the south of Russia, Germany, 

 France, Italy, Spain, Holland, and Turkey; less frequently in 

 Switzerland, and the south of Europe: in Egypt, and other 

 parts of Africa; the Himalaya Mountains, Asia Minor, and other 

 districts of Asia. Wilson and Buonaparte consider this species 

 to be the same as the American one they describe by the name 

 of the Marsh Hawk, but several distinctive marks, as for 

 example the difference in the length of the tail beyond the 

 wings, will appear on reading their account, though they are 

 right in overruling the erroneous reason given by Pennant, 

 namely, the thickness of the legs, for supposing the birds 

 distinct; whether, therefore, our species is found in America, 

 I am not able to say. 



