Urubitingas 253 



on the parnpas, where its flight is low and always rather rapid, " while if its 

 quarry should double it loses no ground, for it turns something in the manner 

 of a Tumbler Pigeon, going rapidly head over heels in the most eccentric and 

 amusing fashion." It appears to feed largely on small birds, driving them up 

 from the tall grass and then striking them down with its claws. Its nesting 

 habits are similar to those of our Marsh Hawk, but the eggs are described as 

 white, blotched with dark red. The Long- winged Harrier is black above and 

 on the chest and throat, while the frontal band, stripes over the eyes, upper 

 tail-coverts, and abdomen are white. 



Hen Harrier. In the Old World our Marsh Hawk is replaced by the hand- 

 some Hen Harrier (C. cyaneus), which ranges in summer over northern Europe 

 and northern Asia, and in winter is found throughout the Indian peninsula and 

 China. It is smaller than our species, the male being about twenty-one and 

 the female twenty-two inches long, the former being bluish gray above and white 

 below, and the latter reddish brown with the under parts pale reddish yellow, 

 streaked and spotted with deep orange-brown. These differences between the 

 sexes are so great that they were long regarded as representing distinct species, 

 and it was not until a brood had been reared from the nest that they were proved 

 to be the same. The Hen Harrier was formerly an abundant bird in the British 

 Islands, but it has been subjected to such incessant persecution by gamekeepers 

 and others that it is almost exterminated, being practically confined as a breed- 

 ing bird to the wildest moors of Wales and the Scotch Highlands. In other 

 parts of Europe it is more abundant, where, like its American relative, it places 

 its nest on the ground in marshes. The eggs, four to six in number, are of a 

 pale bluish white color, in some cases spotted with pale brown. 



The Marsh Harrier, or Moor Buzzard (C. ceruginosus) , is another handsome 

 species of temperate Europe and Siberia, whence it migrates in winter to Africa, 

 India, and China. It was also once abundant throughout the British Islands, 

 but owing to constant molestation it has now become extinct as a British bird. 

 The male has the upper parts brown, the head creamy white, and the lower parts 

 buff, streaked with brown and chestnut, while a part of the wing and tail is pearl- 

 gray. The female is very similar, being a little darker. It is most frequently 

 observed about fens and marshes, although sometimes it may be seen hunting 

 over dry grass plains. Its food and nesting habits are similar to those of the 

 last-mentioned species, from which, however, it differs in being much larger. 

 Hardly to be distinguished from the Hen Harrier, except in its smaller size and 

 greater comparative length of wing, is Montagu's Harrier (C. pygargus), a bird 

 enjoying nearly the same range as the Marsh Harrier, and having practically 

 the same life habits. Other species are the Pied Harrier (C. melanoleucus] of 

 eastern Siberia and Mongolia, Gould's Harrier (C. gouldi) of Australia and New 

 Zealand, the Black Harrier (C. maurus) of South Africa, and the South African 

 Marsh Harrier (C. ranivorus). 



The Urubitingas (Subfamily Urubitingin<z). Inasmuch as the Urubitingas 

 appear to differ sufficiently to warrant their being made the type of a sub- 

 family, they may claim a passing notice. Three species are known, all natives 



