316 MARSH-HARRIER, 
male, shot on May rath 1881, has passed through his hands in thirty 
years ; and on November 28th 1883 Mr. J. G. Millais shot a bird of 
the year in Hoy, Orkneys. In Ireland the species was formerly 
common about Lough Eme in co. Fermanagh, and along the valley 
of the Shannon, as well as in co. Cork and other districts ; but now 
it is only known’ to nest in Queen’s County (where it is protected 
by Lord Castletown) and a few other areas. 
In Norway the Marsh-Harrier is of accidental occurrence, but it 
breeds in Denmark and the south of Sweden, while it is found sparingly 
in summer up to Archangel. In Middle and Southern Russia it is 
common, and resident in the latter, but from the northern districts 
it migrates in the cold season, as it does—at least partially—tfrom its 
summer-haunts in Poland, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium 
and the north of France. In the marshes of the Spanish Peninsula, 
Italy, and the rest of Southern Europe it is abundant throughout 
the year, as it is in North Africa, from Morocco to Egypt ;' while in 
winter it has been observed in Abyssinia, and perhaps even in the 
Transvaal. Eastward, it passes the summer in the temperate por- 
tions of Asia as far as the valley of the Ob, Turkestan and Kashmir ; 
migrating in the cold season to India, Ceylon and Burma. 
The nest, built of reeds and dry grass, is often a large firm 
structure, on a mass of sedge, but sometimes slight, and occasion- 
ally on the lower branches of a tree in or on the confines of a 
marsh. The eggs, 3-5 and even 6 in number, are pale bluish-white, 
seldom—if ever—with distinct brown markings: measurements 1’9 in. 
by 1°5in. In the season the Marsh-Harrier is a sad destroyer of 
the eggs and young ‘of waterfowl, while it also takes small mammals 
and birds; but during the greater part of the year it feeds largely 
on frogs and reptiles, and the scarcity of these when the marshes 
are frozen is one of the causes of its departure from the north of 
Europe. ‘ 
The mature male has the head creamy-white, streaked with 
umber; mantle brown ; primaries blackish ; rest of the wings and 
the tail silvery-grey ; under parts buff, striped with brown on the 
breast and with chestnut on the belly and thighs ; under-wing white. 
In the female the tail and under parts are brown. Young birds are 
chocolate-brown, but the males have the entire crown of the head 
buffish-white, while the females have a yellowish patch streaked 
with brown, on the nape only. In subsequent stages the plumage 
of this species varies greatly. Length: male 21 in., wing 16 in. ; 
female 22°5 in., wing 16°5 in. 
