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1867 I observed, as I believed, tbis species on one or two occasions on the islands of North Uist, 

 Benbecula, and South Uist, where opportunities were afforded me of contrasting the flight of the 

 two together. Montagu's Harrier appeared to me to be a wilder and more impulsive bird, and, 

 from its lightness, to be quicker in its movements, dashing sometimes impetuously to the ground 

 (not heavily, like the common Harrier), then rising with a sudden bound to some height, and 

 again pouncing in a straight line on its prey. When flying over a tract of country it may be 

 distinguished, too, by its different flap of wing and general movements, which are more buoyant 

 than those of the shorter-winged bird. The late James Wilson, of Woodville, in his ' Voyage 

 round Scotland,' mentions having seen a specimen of this bird, which had been shot in Caithness, 

 in the museum of Mr. E. S. Sinclair, surgeon, in Wick ; and I find the species mentioned by the 

 late Charles St. John, who states in his ' Tour in Sutherland,' vol. i. p. 122, that ' it breeds near 

 Bonar Bridge, Mr. Dunbar having taken a nest and killed the old birds in that district.'" 

 Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown, however, greatly doubts if this bird ever breeds in Sutherland. In 

 Ireland it appears only to have occurred twice, once near Bray and once at the Scalp in county 

 Wicklow. 



It has not been met with in Norway, and is of very rare occurrence in Sweden. Professor 

 Nilsson states that it has occurred three or four times in Skane ; but Mr. Meves says that only 

 once is it with certainty known to have been obtained in Sweden, at Hjulerod, on the 20th 

 August 1841, this specimen being now in the Lund Museum. It is only of occasional occurrence 

 in Finland ; and Von Wright says that there is a young female in the Finnish collection obtained 

 on the 10th May 1841. Mr. Sabanaeff writes that in Russia it is not very rare in Jaroslaf ; and 

 he further writes that it was observed by him in the Ural, near Ekaterinburg, and is most 

 numerous in the Perm steppes. Eversmann states that it does not occur in the Kazan Govern- 

 ment ; but Bogdanoff records it from there. According to Mr. Taczanowski it is found throughout 

 Poland, but is less numerous than the Hen-Harrier, with which species it arrives and departs. In 

 Germany it is, comparatively speaking, rare in the breeding-season. Borggreve states that it 

 breeds in Mecklenburg and Anhalt; Mr. Schluter received eggs with the birds from near 

 Bittefeld ; and Gloger speaks of it as being tolerably common in Silesia. Mr. C. Sachse informs 

 me that it but rarely occurs in Rhenish Prussia on passage, and he has not known it to breed 

 there. Naumann says that it is a migrant to Germany, arriving in March and leaving in 

 October, but seldom remaining, during severe winters. It is there not so common as the Hen- 

 Harrier, but, it would seem, is not so rare as has been supposed. Mr. J. Collin says that it 

 is rare in Denmark. Bonnez informed him that it occurs in the Grenaa district, and probably 

 breeds there, as it is found throughout the summer; but he considers that it must have been a 

 mistake on the part of Mr. Bonnez. According to Melchior one was shot in September 1823 

 near Gisselfeldt. In Holland and Belgium it is tolerably common during the breeding-season, 

 though much less numerous than the Hen-Harrier ; but in some parts of France it is said to be 

 quite common ; and M. Barbier Montault speaks of having seen them collecting in thousands, 

 to roost in company, near Loudun, in the Department of Vienne, after the breeding-season. 

 M. Adrien Lacroix says that it is found during the summer in the French Pyrenees, where it 

 is not uncommon. It arrives about the middle of March or beginning of April, and leaves 

 again in September or October. Professor Barboza du Bocage includes it in his list of the birds 



