BUTEONIN^. 97 



melanopterus. It frequents open, stony plains, and cultivated 

 ground, occasionally flying through a cantonment. It hunts the 

 plains, regularly beating and squaring its ground, and occasionally 

 hunting along hedgerows, or the edge of some thick bush. It 

 feeds chiefly on reptiles and insects, also occasionally on small 

 mice and shrews, and weak, or sickly, or wounded birds, especially 

 quails. I have once only seen it perched on trees. In general it 

 perches on a stone, or a mound of earth, or ant-hill, or even on the 

 ground. Its powerful sense of hearing must be of great use to it 

 when seated on the ground at night, to give it warning of the 

 approach of any animal, but yet occasionally it is surprised at night 

 by a jackal, fox, or mongoose, for I have not unfrequently found 

 its feathers on the bund of a field. The flight of the Harrier is 

 usually slow, a few beats alternating with a sailing motion, but 

 it is capable of, and now and then takes, sudden flights of consider- 

 able energy after a bird which it thinks it can capture. The 

 sudden Avay with which it can stop in its flight, and drop down on 

 the ground on some quarry, must have been witnessed by many. Its 

 stealthy, noiseless mode of flight, and the sudden pouncing on its 

 prey, have gained for it the appropriate Telugu and Tamul name 

 of cat-kite. 



It is widely spread through Asia, Africa, and the South East 

 of Europe. 



52. Circus cineraceus, Montague. 



Falco, apud Montague — Blyth, Cat. 91 — Horsf., Cat. 32 — 

 Jerdon, Cat. 24 — C. Montagui, Vieill. — C. Nipalensis, Hodg- 

 son — Gould, Birds of Europe, pi. 35, (the same native names as 



the last). 



Montague's Harrier. 



Descr. — Male, above, throat and breast darkish blue grey, 



darkest on the back ; the first six quills black, the next one lighter, 



changing to grey ; secondaries grey, with a black bar ; tail grey, 



the outer two feathers barred on their inner webs with bright 



rufous, the other three with dusky ; belly, vent, under tail coverts, 



and under wing coverts, white, .with bold dashes of rich chestnut 



or reddish brown. 



N 



