THE ZooLoGist—OcToBER, 1875. 4655 
border of fine heather twigs. The size of the eggs indicated that 
they belonged to Montagu’s rather than to the hen harrier, and our 
view of the female through our binoculars confirmed this. The 
ruddy colour of the under parts, and the more distinct barrings of 
the tail, together with the lightness of form and flight, are very 
distinctive of C. cineraceus, even on the wing. It seemed a great 
risk to leave anything in the nest, as the chances were that some 
cowherd would stumble upon it as we had done; but, after con- 
sultation, I annexed two eggs, leaving one in the nest by way of 
dividing the risk and inducing the female to continue laying—four, 
five, and sometimes six, being the usual complement with the har- 
riers. We then continued our walk, keeping a sharp look-out for 
the male bird, which in its adult plumage is easily distinguishable 
from the male of C. cyaneus at any reasonable distance. However, 
he did not show on this occasion, and after another hour’s ramble 
we found that we had been too much demoralised by this large and 
unexpected game to care for little Dartfords; so, having beaten out 
two, “just to swear by,” we returned to have another look at the 
nest. Approaching gently, we had an excellent view of the female 
as she rose. She did not look nearly so large this time when we 
were prepared for her, and there was little doubt of her being 
C. cineraceus. 
On blowing, the two eggs showed no traces of incubation, and it 
was, therefore, a little surprising that no other egg should be laid 
from the 30th of May to the 5th of June, on which day the nest con- 
tained two eggs, the freshly-laid one being of a clear bluish white, 
with numerous small marks, apparently blood-stains, and very 
different in appearance from the egg which had now been laid 
about a week; the freshness, however, was soon lost. In the 
interim, and on subsequent occasions, I visited the nest frequently, 
and had excellent opportunities of observing the male bird, which 
was an unmistakable Montagu, his dark colour and striated flanks 
and abdomen being clearly visible with a glass. Early morning and 
towards evening were the best times for seeing him, but he seemed 
to frequent a portion of the downs at some distance from the nest ; 
and although, when the female had been disturbed from the nest, 
and was on the wing for some time, he would generally make his 
appearance, yet in the course of many hours’ watching at different 
times I never observed him approach the nest, as if to bring food, 
or taking his turn at incubation. From observations made abroad, 
