BIRDS' NESTS. 61 



marshy districts, especially Cambridgeshire. 

 Its nest is composed of small sticks and coarse 

 grass, with a very slender lining. In a level 

 country, it commonly chooses a tuft of furze, 

 or some other low bush ; but in hilly districts 

 it not unfrequently places its nest on the bare 

 ground. The eggs vary from three to five, 

 and are most frequently of a bluish white, 

 though occasionally they are marked with 

 light spots of yellowish brown. 



MARSH HARRIER. Circus aruginosus. 



THIS bird, as its name implies, frequents 

 the same districts as the last, but is even less 

 common. Its nest, which is placed on the 

 ground among short wood, furze, or fern,. is 

 composed of sticks, rushes, and short grass, 

 often used in such profusion, that the top of 

 the nest is a foot or more from the ground. 

 Sometimes, though rarely, it builds in the fork 

 of a large tree. The eggs closely resemble 



