160 BIRDS' NESTS 



somewhat small flat nest of sticks, which is lined with 

 mud. The Hawks (Accipitrinse) are equally elaborate 

 nest-builders, but the materials are much the same, 

 as is also the style of nest — a more or less bulky yet 

 flat heap of sticks and twigs, many of the latter with 

 green buds adhering, and lined in some species with 

 roots, moss, and strips or flakes of bark, but the habit 

 of inserting green leaves does not appear to prevail. 

 The Harriers also included in the same sub-family 

 appear almost invariably to breed upon the ground 

 amongst herbage. These nests are often very similar 

 to those of the Rails breeding in similar localities, thus 

 showing how the habit of adaptability has developed 

 on precisely the same lines in the two groups of very 

 remotely allied birds. The nests of the various 

 species of Harriers vary somewhat in bulk, the largest 

 nests generally belonging to the species that breed in 

 the most aquatic haunts. Thus the nest of the Marsh 

 Harrier (Circus ceruginosus) is bulky and made of reeds, 

 sticks, and twigs, and lined with dry herbage,^ the 

 bird occasionally adding to the structure as incuba- 

 tion proceeds, doubtless to protect it from any sudden 

 incursion of water. The nest of the Hen Harrier (C. 

 cyaneus), on the other hand, is much less elaborate in 

 many cases when made on dry heaths and mountain 

 sides, consisting of a hollow surrounded by a few 

 twigs and lined with dry herbage ; yet when breeding 



^ Incidentally, we may mention that this species sometimes 

 annexes the nest of a Coot. 



