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Family FALCONIM, 



Genus CIECUS. 



Accipiter apud Brisson, Orn. i. p. 345 (1760). 



Falco apud Linngeus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 126 (1766). 



Abulia apud Schrank, Fauna Boica, i. p. 108 (1798). 



Circus, Lacepede, Mem. de l'lnst. iii. p. 506 (1800). 



Pygargus apud Koch, Baier. Zool. i. p. 127 (1816). 



Buteo apud Fleming, Brit. Anim. p. 55 (1828). 



Strigiceps apud Bonaparte, Sagg. Distr. Met. An. Vertebr. p. 37 (1831). 



Glaucopterix apud Kaup, Classif. d. Saugeth. u. Vog. p. 113 (1844). 



Pterocircus apud Koch, Archiv f. Naturg. xvi. p. 32 (1850). 



The Harriers, of which fifteen species are known, inhabit the Palsearctic, Ethiopian, Oriental, 

 Australian, Nearctic, and Neotropical Regions, being, however, absent from the Malay archi- 

 pelago, excepting Celebes. Of these fifteen species four inhabit the Western Palsearctic Region, 

 their range being given in the following articles. By many authorities the Harriers have been 

 looked on as forming a sort of link between the diurnal and nocturnal Raptores ; and they 

 certainly exhibit no slight affinity to the Owls in the ruff, the large aperture of the ear, and in 

 the soft texture of their plumage ; but later research has shown that they are better placed after 

 the Vulturidse, which family separates them from the Strigidse and Bubonidse. The Harriers 

 affect open country, and several of the species exhibit a partiality for wet swampy localities. 

 They fly tolerably swiftly, often near the ground, which they quarter carefully by flying in 

 circles in search of food. They feed on small mammals, birds (more especially young ones), 

 reptiles, insects, fishes, and birds' eggs, and are very destructive in places where aquatic birds 

 breed numerously. They place their nests on the ground, and deposit bluish white, broadly 

 elliptical eggs, which, however, in exceptional cases are marked with a few deep-rufous spots. 



Circus cyaneus, the type of the genus, has the beak small, decurved from the base, the 

 cutting-edge of the upper mandible slightly festooned ; nostrils oval, partly concealed by stiff 

 hairs, cere large ; lower part of the head surrounded by a ruff of small close feathers ; wings 

 long, the first quill about equal to the seventh, the fourth longest, the first four quills notched 

 on the inner web ; tail long, nearly even ; legs long and slender, tarsus smooth, feathered on the 

 uppermost part ; toes short, the centre one longest, the lateral ones nearly equal, claws slender, 

 curved, very acute 



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