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Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Monmouthshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Durham, and Cum- 

 berland, as well as in both North and South Wales. Occasionally, too, nests were then found in 

 Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Norfolk (in which county four fledgelings were taken in July 1870), 

 Shropshire, and Northumberland ; but it had ceased to breed in Wiltshire, Suffolk, Cambridge- 

 shire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire, and Nottinghamshire, though in some of these only 

 very recently." 



Lord Lilford writes to me as follows : — " The Hen-Harrier was, in my recollection, by no 

 means a very uncommon bird in our part of Northamptonshire ; but I have not heard of its 

 occurrence in that county for several years past. I have seen it on the wing in Norfolk, Cam- 

 bridgeshire, and Devonshire, whence I have received nests and eggs ;" and Mr. Stevenson, 

 referring to the occurrence of this Harrier in Norfolk, remarks (B. of Norfolk, i. p. 37): — 

 " At no time so numerous in this county as the last species, at least as regards the district of 

 the broads, the Hen-Harrier can be classed only amongst those migratory species which remain, 

 in rare instances, to breed in Norfolk. Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear thus speak of its breeding 

 in the channel fen at Barton : — ' We have more than once thought ourselves in danger of being- 

 attacked by it, when we had approached the place where undoubtedly its nest was concealed ;' 

 and Mr. Lubbock says : — ' This Hen-Harrier always breeds here in a few instances, although not 

 a bird of frequent occurrence. Many years back I have known of its breeding at Surlingham.' 

 For the last eight or ten years, however, I have known of but one instance of its nesting even in 

 such localities as the Marsh-Harrier and Montagu's still frequent ; and although adult females 

 (the Ringtail Harrier of some authors) and immature specimens occur nearly every year, these 

 are most probably spring and autumn migrants, from their appearance invariably between 

 October and March, and for the most part near the coast. The adult male, in its delicate 

 bluish-grey plumage, has been long considered a rarity in this county ; the only one that I had 

 heard of for some years prior to 1859 (now in my collection) was shot at Ranworth in November 

 of that year ; and a few days later an adult female, most probably the companion bird, was taken 

 close by, at Horning, and, being only winged, was sent to Mr. J. H. Gurney, who still has it 

 alive in his aviary." 



In Northumberland and Durham, Mr. Hancock writes (B. of North, and Durh. p. 19), it is 

 " a casual visitant. This is the commonest of the genus in these two northern counties ; but, 

 like the preceding species, it has now almost succumbed to the zeal of the gamekeeper. 

 Mr. William Proctor, of Durham, informs me that it was common, and bred at Hedley Edge, 

 on the Brancepeth estate, about thirty years ago. I took the eggs, four in number, on the 

 Wemmergill Moors, in 1823. I fear it can no longer be considered a resident in the district. 

 It is still occasionally shot, though I have not seen a single individual for several years. The 

 late Mr. R. R. Wingate informed me that his father remembered when the Hen-Harrier bred, on 

 the Newcastle Town Moor." 



According to Mr. Robert Gray (B. of W. of Scotl. p. 52), " this is a very common species on 

 all the islands of the Outer Hebridean group, and also throughout the inner islands, Skye, Islay, 

 Mull, Jura, etc., where it was known by the Gaelic name of Clamhan-luch, signifying Mouse- 

 Hawk. 1 have seen twelve or fourteen specimens in one day on Benbecula and North Uist, and 

 likewise in South Uist, where its hunting-grounds are of a similar nature. The flight of this 



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