MARSH HARRIER. 91 



among the young of water-fowl is so well known by the parent 

 birds, that they pursue and attack them with vociferous cries, 

 especially the gulls and pewits, and endeavour to drive them 

 from the spot. Nor are the young of land birds more ex- 

 empt from the attacks of these general depredators ; young 

 quails, partridges, larks, and many others fall a prey to them. 



When the reeds begin to grow in the spring, the Marsh 

 Harrier seeks a place for incubation. This is chosen usually 

 on the reedy margin of a large pond, lake, or swamp, and the 

 nest is either placed among the high reeds, or in the stump 

 of an osier bush ; it is composed of dry rushes, sticks, and 

 leaves, and is a very shapeless structure. The female de- 

 posits from three to five eggs, which are white and entirely 

 spotless. The specimen figured in our plate is, we believe, 

 more pointed than is usual with this species, since they 

 are described by some authors as resembling those of the 

 common domestic hen, but more round in form. While the 

 female is sitting, the male may frequently be seen flying 

 overhead, and expressing his satisfaction by various and 

 elegant evolutions, rising and descending in his flight, and 

 sometimes soaring to a considerable height. The young 

 birds are fed with insects, frogs, and other reptiles. Where 

 the bean-goose breeds these birds are observed to frequent, 

 and great numbers of the young geese fall a sacrifice to their 

 rapacity. 



In the Marsh Harrier the beak is of small dimensions, 

 long and narrow, measuring fifteen lines from the forehead 

 to the tip in diameter, and seventeen from the tip to the 

 gape. The upper mandible is armed with a blunt and 

 inconspicuous tooth ; the cere long and partly covered with 

 radiating bristles ; the nostrils are egg-shaped. The tarsi 

 are slender, and naked for three inches above the foot. The 

 toes are long, the middle one measures two inches eight 

 lines, of which the claw occupies ten and a half lines : the 



