The MArn;H-I Ia[?rier. 95 



The nest i.s usually placed iu a swamp low down anion;,' llic reeds, sometimes 

 at the foot of a dwarf willow ; it is a large and loosely made structure of stalks 

 and rushes, and is lined with grass. In the south of Europe the Marsh-Harrier 

 begins to nest early in March, but further north not until May. Col. Montagu 

 once took a nest that was placed in the fork of a tree. The eggs are three to 

 six, bluish white, occasionally spotted with rust red ; the writer has one in his 

 cabinet as richly marked on the larger end as the egg of the Honey-Buzzard, the 

 rest of the egg being pure white. This is the egg figured on plate ix, No. 295. 

 The eggs measure from 2'oS to 1-84 inches, by from 1-58 to 1-44 inches. While 

 the hen is sitting the male bird soars high above the nest in circles. The cry of 

 the Marsh- Harrier is said closely to resemble the scream of the Kittiwake Gull. 

 It roosts upon the ground, but during the da}?- may be seen sitting on posts in 

 the marshes, on walls, or on heaps of litter. 



The general colour of the plumage of the male Marsh-Harrier is dark reddish 

 brown ; the top of the head, cheeks, and nape warm ochreous-white, closelj' striped 

 with chocolate and blackish brown ; back and scapulars dark chocolate, very slightlj- 

 marked with dark fulvous; tail ash grey, with light yellowish buff; secondaries 

 ashy-blue grey ; primaries blackish-brown, the inner ones marked with ash-grey ; 

 chin white, breast yellowish white, marked with rust}^ red and dark reddish 

 brown ; rest of the under parts warm rusty red marked wth chocolate bro-vra ; 

 irides lemon-yellow ; bill horn ; cere and legs yellow. 



An adult female, from Cambridgeshire, in the writer's collection, is light 

 brown, with a pale yellow band across the chest ; crown of head and chin pale 

 yellow, slightly striated with dark brown and rufous ; back and tail light brown, 

 outer feathers of tail edged with pale rufous ; bell}- and thighs dark reddish brown ; 

 some of the brown feathers on the back and shoulders with pale 3'ellow edgings. 



In 3^oung birds of the year the whole of the plumage is dark chocolate brown ; 

 the feathers tipped with lighter reddish brown ; the irides then are 3-ellowish 

 hazel, and remain of this colour in the females of all ages. 



In the second year the head, neck, chin, and throat become dull 3'ellow ; uith 

 occasional^ a patch of the same colour upon the carpus, or anterior point of the 

 wing. In this plumage the Marsh-Harrier used to be called the Harp3-, and it 

 was always more common in this countr3'' than in the full adult dress. The 

 female is much larger than the male, measuring 23 inches in length ; the male 

 19 to 20 inches. 



Verj' dark, almost black, varieties of the male are frequenth- met with; the 

 writer possesses one from the eastern counties that has the entire head and back 

 a bluish black, with the underparts dark rufous. 



