72 RAPTORES. CIRCUS. Harrier. 



Plate 11. A male bird, of adult age, and of natural size. 



Killed near Morpetli in Northumberland in 1817. 



(ieneral j^[i\ bluisli-black. Cere lemon-yellow. Irides yellow. Head 



dcscrip- 



tion. and upper parts of the body deep ash-grey, the tips 



Male bird. ^^^^ middle parts of most of the feathers blackish-grey. 



Throat and breast deep ash-grey. Belly, sides, and 

 thighs, white, with reddish-brown streaks. Under wing- 

 coverts barred with reddish-brown. Primary quills 

 black; secondaries ash-grey above, beneath paler, with 

 three blackish bars, one of which is visible on the 

 outer side of the wing. Tail long, the two middle fea- 

 thers grey, with a tinge of brown ; the rest grey on the 

 outer web, the inner having five reddish-brown bars. 

 Legs slender and j^ellow. Toes short, the claws black. 

 Since the above-mentioned year, I have killed two male 



specimens of this bird, both of which answered the foregoing 



description. 



Female. Bill bluish-black. Cere wax-yellow, Irides bright yellow. 

 Crown of the head reddish-brown, with blackish-brown 

 spots. Nape of the neck varied with orange-brown and 

 white. Above and below the eye, is a streak of pale 

 reddish- white. Ear-coverts deep umber-brown. Upper 

 parts of the body umber-brown, the feathers margined 

 with pale orange-brown. Lower part of the rump and 

 the tail-coverts white, streaked with pale orange-brown. 

 The whole of the under parts orange-brown, without 

 spot or streak. Tail, having the two middle feathers 

 nearly of an uniform brown, the rest being barred with 

 pale orange- brown and umber-brown, except the outer 

 feathers, which are barred with orange-brown and white. 

 The young males, previous to the first moult, are similar 

 in plumage to the female bird. 



