118 MAKSU HA11BIEE. 



In this country they are indigenous, remaining with us all 

 the year round, in most of the counties of England and Wales ; 

 in Ireland, from Antrim to Cork ; in Scotland and the Hebrides. 

 Their numbers however, like those of so many others of the 

 birds of prey, are becoming gradually fewer, and anything but 

 'beautifully less.' From Scotland to Sussex an ornithological 

 lament over the glories of the departed is raised. 'Fuimus' 

 must soon be the motto of the Marsh Harrier, as well as 

 of 'the Bruce,' 



They frequent, as the name suggests, open moors and wild 

 plains, in which marshes or lakes are found, but appear to 

 be partially migratory. Attempts have been made to train 

 them for falconry, but they have been found very intractable. 



The flight of these birds, which is not very swift, is light 

 and airy, but unsteady. Occasionally they rise to so great a 

 height as to be all but invisible to the eye, and at the time 

 when the female is sitting, the male is often to be seen soaring- 

 above the nest, and performing a variety of attractive evolutions. 

 They seldom alight on trees, even to roost at night, but resort 

 to the concealment of beds of reeds, and in the day-time perch 

 on a hillock, a rail, or the ground. They do not long remain 

 stationary, but keep beating their hunting grounds in search 

 of prey, and they often frequent the same locality for several 

 days together, and follow the like course at the same hour 

 of the day. 



The food of the Marsh Harrier consists of rabbits, water- 

 rats, mice, and other small animals, whether found dead or 

 alive; land and water reptiles, the young of geese, ducks, and 

 other water-fowl, and of partridges; as also small birds, such 

 as quails and larks; the eggs of birds, insects, and Bewick 

 and others say fish, and Mudie large carrion. They take their 

 prey from the ground or the water, not in the air. In the 

 autumn they sometimes leave the moors, and come down to 

 the coast in quest of sea-birds, perching on the rocks until 

 they perceive any that they can seize. A singular anecdote 

 of one of this species, communicated by Mr. E. Ball, is 

 recorded in Mr. Thompson's 'Natural History of Ireland:' 

 'One of these birds, which I had some years since, lost a 

 leg by accident. I supplied it with a wooden one, and the 

 dexterity it acquired with this stump, both in walking and 

 killing rats, was astonishing. When a rat was turned out, 

 the bird pounced at it, and never failed to pin the animal's 

 head to the ground with the stump, while a few grasps of 



