128 BRITISH BIRDS. 



CIRCUS CYANEUS. 



HEN-HARRIER. 



(PLATE 6.) 



Accipiter falco torquatus ( $ ), Brtss. Orn. i. p. 345 (1760). 



Falco cyaneus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 126 (1766) ; et auctorum plurimorum 



Temminck, Yarrell, (Gould), (Gray), (Newton), (Sharps'), &c. 

 Aquila variabilis, Schrank, Fauna Boica, i. p. 108 (1798). 

 Circus gallinarius, Saviyn. Ots. cTEgypte, p. 31 (1810). 

 Pygargus dispar, Koch, Syst. baier. Zool. p. 128 (1816). 

 Circus aegithus, Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. fyc. Brit. Mus. pp. 9, 10 (1816). 

 Falco strigiceps, Nilss. Orn. Suec. i. p. 21 (1817). 

 Accipiter variatilis (Schr.*), Pall. Zooar. Rosso- As. \. p. 364 (1826). 



The Hen- Harrier was formerly a regular summer visitor to the British 

 Islands, a few even remaining through the winter, and it has only very 

 recently been exterminated in the breeding-season from most parts of 

 England. Now it is principally seen on the autumn migration, but is still 

 said to breed occasionally in some of the wilder districts, such as Devon- 

 shire, Cornwall, and the Lake district. In Wales, the Highlands of 

 Scotland, the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and in the mountainous parts of 

 Ireland it still breeds, although in decreasing numbers. It has not been 

 recorded from the Faroes ; but in the Shetland Islands, where it formerly 

 bred, it has become only an autumn visitor. 



On the continent it is a summer visitor to Holland, Jutland, Northern 

 Norway, Poland, Northern and Central Russia, and North Turkestan, the 

 whole of Siberia, and the north island of Japan. Its breeding-range 

 extends north of the Arctic circle, but not quite so far as the limit of 

 forest-growth. In Spain, France, Germany, Southern Sweden, Italy, 

 Turkey, South Russia, Palestine, and Southern Turkestan it is principally 

 known as passing through on the spring and autumn migration. In all 

 these countries a few remain during the summer to breed, and a few are 

 found during winter ; but these latter are probably visitants from further 

 north, so that the bird cannot anywhere be strictly called a resident. It is 

 found in winter only in Northern Africa as far south as Abyssinia, Sar- 

 dinia, Greece, Asia Minor, Northern India, Mongolia, China, and the 

 central island of Japan. 



On the American continent, from the Arctic circle to Panama, a very 

 nearly allied species, which many writers consider only subspecifically dis- 

 tinct from our bird, occurs. This species, C. hudsonius, differs in having 

 the lower parts striped with rufous, similar to Montagu's Harrier. A 

 species having the underparts still more streaked, C. cinereus, is found in 

 the southern half of South America. Another very near ally of this 

 species occurs in the eastern hemisphere, having very nearly the same 

 range as Montagu's Harrier, but has not yet been recorded from the 



