by Mr. Claude Grunt, in South Africa. \7 



and was the only one seen throughout all the mouths spent 

 there. On the 16th Aug., 1903, I found the nest at Klip- 

 fontein, Namaqualand ; it was a large structure of sticks, 

 lined with similar but finer material, placed on the top of a 

 large Taai-bush ; it contained only one egg: the old bird 

 Avas not obtained, although, on two or three days running I 

 jnit her oft* ; she was too wild for me to get within shot of her. 

 The soft parts of the adult are : — ^Irides dark red-browai; 

 bill dark slaty, cere and base of bill blood-orange ; legs and 

 toes bright red. The immature bird has the iridcs much 

 yellower ; bill blackish, cere pale orange ; legs and toes 

 blood-orange,] 



54-9. Circus cineraceus. 



Tv. Pietersburg, Mch. 7 (1 adult S)- 



[I only observed Montagu's Harrier during the summer at 

 Wakkerstroom, where it was not uncommon but too wild to 

 approach ; at Pietersburg, where it was noticed on the same 

 ground as C. macrurus ; and at Beira in January, where I 

 saw a single male among several Pale Harriers, but there may 

 have been others. On the wing it is not usually distinguish- 

 able from G. macrurus, which it also resembles in habits. 



The soft parts of an adult male are : — Irides clear 

 medium yellow ; bill black ; cere greenish yellow ; legs and 

 tues lemon-yellow.] 



550. Circus macrurus. 



Tv. Pietersburg, Mch. 8 (1 imm, ^). 



[The Pale Harrier was noticed only in the Wakker- 

 stroom and Zoutpansberg districts of the Transvaal and in 

 the flats near Beira, always in the African summer season. It 

 is generally observed hawking over open country covered 

 with long grass and dry and wet vleis and stretches of marshy 

 ground. It is interesting to watch the systematic way in 

 which these Harriers quarter the country, searching carefully 

 every foot of ground. When hawking they fly just clear of 

 the tops of the grass, halting to find any possible prey 

 and dropping straight on to it. They do not carry their 



SKR. IX. — VOL. VI. c 



