ACC1PITRINJ5. 203 



Figures : Dresser, Birds of Europe, v. pi. 329 (male and female 

 adult). 



The Hen-Harrier is a summer visitor to the Kurile Islands and to 

 Yezzo, but a winter visitor to Southern Japan (Blakiston and Pryer, 

 Trans. As. Soc. Japan, 1882, p. 185). There is an example in the 

 Swinhoe collection from Hakodadi (Swinhoe, Ibis, 1875, p. 448), 

 and there are eight examples in the Pryer collection from Yokohama. 

 The example obtained by the collectors of the Siebold Expedition, and 

 erroneously identified as Circus uliginosus, was doubtless procured 

 at Nagasaki (Temminck and Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, Aves, p. 9). 



The breeding-range of the Hen-Harrier extends from the British 

 Islands across North Europe and Siberia to Japan. 



189. CrRCTJS iERUGINOSUS. 



(MARSH-HARRIER.) 



Circus egmginosus, linneus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 130 (1766). 



The Marsh-Harrier is on an average a somewhat larger bird than 

 the Hen-Harrier (large females 17 inches in length of wing from 

 carpal joint). The 1st and 7th primaries are nearly equal in length. 



Figures : Dresser, Birds of Europe, v. pi. 326 (Western form) ; 

 pi. 327 (intermediate form) ; Swinhoe, Ibis, 1863, pi. 5 (Eastern 

 form) . 



It is impossible to determine whether the Marsh- Harriers of Japan 

 belong to the Eastern or to the Western form of that species, or to 

 both. The male of the Eastern form. Circus spilonotua (Kaup, Contr. 

 Orn. 1850, p. 59), when fully adult has the underparts white, streaked 

 on the throat and breast with black ; whilst in the Western form the 

 throat and breast are buff streaked with brown, and the rest of the 

 underparts are chestnut. The females of the Eastern form are said 

 to have broad bands across the tail-feathers, but otherwise to resemble 

 those of the Western form, which never has a banded tail in either 

 sex or at any age. I have never seen an adult male (with lavender- 

 grey tail) of either form from Japan ; but immature males and 

 females with uniform brown tails (presumably C. aruginosus), and 

 females with barred tails (probably C. spilonotus), are represented 

 in the Pryer collection from Yokohama. The existence of inter- 

 mediate forms between the two races, of which at least five examples 



