UP THE MOUNTAINS. 183 



(Circus cyaneus). It is perhaps the most con- widely 

 spicuous bird of the hills, its underparts below but tr ver U y edj 

 the breast, and the upper tail coverts, being locaL 

 white ; its upper parts, throat and breast, gray ; 

 its wings black. The conspicuousness of the 

 Hen Harrier is one of the most interesting 

 features in its economy. Showy plumage among 

 the Birds of Prey is a most exceptional circum- 

 stance. These birds are usually dressed as 

 " quietly " as possible, in a garb least likely to 

 attract attention or create alarm among those 

 creatures on which they prey. But here in the 

 male Hen Harrier we have a bird easily seen 

 a mile away as it beats along the dark hillsides 

 or over the heather. Why this conspicuous 

 dress ? Now I am of opinion that this showy 

 plumage may be of great service to the Harrier 

 a disguise in which it may steal towards its quarry 

 unsuspected until all too late for the victim to 

 escape. The rapacious Hen Harrier seems to 

 be masquerading in the dress of the harmless 

 Gull ! and by his slow, laboured movements, and 

 the methodical way in which he quarters the 

 ground, he might readily be mistaken for a Gull, 

 even by human intelligence. In fine it seems to 

 be another instance of Mimicry in Nature, another 

 case where an enemy is disguised as a friend, and 

 the dress of a harmless species has been imitated 

 by another of rapacious tendencies. Precisely 

 similar remarks apply to the Marsh Harrier, to 

 Montagu's Harrier, and their allied forms all 

 birds frequenting open, treeless districts where 

 their conspicuous appearance can readily be mis- 

 taken for more harmless fowl. 



The Hen Harrier is only a summer visitor 



