THE ZooLocist—OcToBER, 1875. 4653 
On the Nesting of Montagws Harrier in the Isle of Wight. 
By Howarp Saunpers, Esq., F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c. 
(Reprinted from the ‘ Field’ of September 18th.) 
AT the present day, when nearly every acre is either cultivated 
or preserved for the sake of game, it is but seldom that the naturalist 
resident in a tolerably populous part of England has an opportunity 
of observing the habits of any bird of prey excepting the kestrel and 
sparrowhawk, which, in spite of all the keeper can do, still manage 
to find shelter in our cliffs and woods. But in the case of a bird 
whose large size is likely to attract the attention of the watchful 
game-preserver or of the local birdstuffer, its doom is generally 
sealed if it ventures to stay more than a few days in the same dis- 
trict; and should a pair have the audacity to remain to breed, their 
destruction is only a question of time, for nothing is easier than to 
dispose of any bird of prey when once its nesting-place is dis- 
covered. The greed of the collector has already exterminated the 
honey buzzards (Pernis apivorus), which used to arrive towards the 
end of the spring to breed in the beech woods of the New Forest: 
it was not enough to take the eggs systematically—for which £5 the 
pair was frequently paid by collectors of British specimens—but 
these enthusiastic “ patriots” must needs have the birds which laid 
these literally golden eggs; and, as those who annually farmed the 
birds required a handsome reward for their loss, as much as £40 
has actually been paid for the parent birds shot from the nest with 
the two eggs, or two young in down—lI forget which at the moment. 
It is true that similar specimens could easily have been obtained 
from the Continent at less than a tenth of the price; but then they 
would not have been British! The kite has long been gone; of 
the buzzard (Buteo vulgaris) but a few pairs exist, even in that 
vast expanse of forest; and if the hen harrier (Circus cyaneus) and 
Montagu’s harrier (C. cineraceus) still maintain a precarious footing 
in the country, it is owing to their haunts being on wild open 
tracts of moor and gorse-covered downs, sparingly frequented even 
during the day—at which time, moreover, the birds are but little 
on the move, and thus escape attracting attention. Of these two 
species Montagu’s harrier is undoubtedly the more abundant, or 
rather I should say the less rare, in the south and south-west of 
England during the summer months; indeed, its authenticated 
SECOND SERIES—VOL. X. 3D 
