HARRISES. Ill 



more feeble, and their claws smaller ; they fly very low, and 

 strike their prey on the ground, that prey consisting more of 

 young birds and of females when they are sitting, than that 

 of the hawks, as the prey of the hawks consists of less power- 

 fully winged birds than that of the falcons. 



It is from this habit that they get the name of " harriers," 

 which is synonymous with that of plunderers. They are 

 also sometimes called "harpies;" and as they often beat the 

 bushes so low that their feet touch, it is possible that they 

 may have given rise to some of the fabulous accounts of 

 griffins, one of the characters of which was supposed to be a 

 combination of the functions of walking and flying. The 

 harriers do not combine these; but they fly so near the 

 ground, and have their feet so ready for assisting in the 

 capture of any prey they may spy, that they often appear as 

 if the feet were concerned in assisting their motion. 



It was mentioned that the kestrel, which often pounces 

 upon its prey on the ground, has more power in turning the 

 head so as to take in a horizon all round it than those birds 

 which strike in the air; and as the harriers fly lower than 

 the kestrel, and consequently take in a smaller horizon, they 

 are still better furnished with the means of narrowly scruti- 

 nizing that horizon. 



The majority of the diurnal birds of prey have the eyes 

 placed so far backwards laterally that they cannot see the 

 same object with both eyes, unless it is at a very considerable 

 distance ; and cannot see right before them without turning 

 the head. As their prey is also rather under them than 

 otherwise, their eyes are, in consequence of the projection of 

 the upper part of the orbit, better adapted for looking down 

 than looking up. But in the harriers the eyes are placed so 

 near each other, that both can be directed forwards; and they 

 are provided with a concha, or circle of feathers radiating 

 from the orbit, less produced and perfect than the same is in 



