or Is'^OKTHTrMBEELAIfD AXD DrUHAM. 17 



and a narrow inconspicuous streak above the eye ; there are no 

 distinct "bands on the tail, of which the external feather on each 

 side, and the two central ones, are entirely plain; the second, 

 third, fourth, and fifth, on each side, have each two dark indis- 

 tinct bars or spots. 



This variety seems to hold the same relation to the European 

 Sparrow Hawk as the Accipiter rhodog aster, A. Stevensoni, Gur- 

 ney, and Macronisus gularis, Schlegel, do to 11. ladius, Gmelin. 

 Indeed, the characters are very slight that distinguish these spe- 

 cifically fi'om each other. 



12. CIRCUS, Lacepede. 

 17. Maesh Haheiee. C. ^eugbstostts, {Linnceus.) 



Falco nifm, Bewick, Hist. Brit. Biixls, Ed. 1847, I., 44. 

 Circus ceruginosus, Yarrell, Hist. Brit. Birds, Ed. 4, I., 127. 



This fine species, which, a few years ago, was common on our 

 swampy moorlands, where it bred, has now almost disappeared 

 under the policy of the game-preserver, and has fallen, or is fast 

 falling, fi'om the rank of a resident, to that of a mere casual visit- 

 ant. In 1823 I took a nest of it, with four eggs, on the moors 

 at Wemmergill, near Middleton-in-Teesdale, the shooting box 

 of the late Lord Strathmore. Both parent birds had been shot 

 or trapped by the gamekeeper, and formed part of his museum, 

 nailed against the stable walls. This collection was made up of 

 Hawks, Owls, Daws, Buzzards, and such like "vermin," both 

 biped and quadruped, being altogether one of the largest and most 

 disgusting I have ever seen. It is now quite impossible in the 

 north of England for any gamekeeper to form such another mu- 

 seum to bear testimony to his zeal and ignorance, as the so- 

 called vermin no longer exist. 



A few years ago my friend, Mr. Thomas Thompson, of Winla- 

 ton, obtained a nest with four eggs of the Marsh Harrier, near 

 Haydon Bridge; and a female was shot at Hartington, near 

 Durham, August, 1840. 



