48 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



15. MONTAGU'S HARRIER. 



Circus cineraceus. 



The only specimen of this Harrier that I ever heard 

 of in Northamptonshire was shot in a piece of standing 

 barley near Thorpe Waterville, on August 31, 1894 ; 

 the lout, who must have shot it at very close quarters, 

 could not find it, but it was found alive, with both 

 wings broken, by a man wdio was mowing the barley 

 with a machine ; he picked it up, dashed it against 

 the machine, and threw it aw^ay, but fortunately told 

 his employer of the occurrence. The latter, who is a 

 tenant of ours, went to look for it, found it, collected 

 all the feathers that he could find, killed it (for the 

 unhappy bird was still alive), and sent it to me, 

 thereby making a valuable addition to my list of 

 county birds. 



Montagu's Harrier is a summer migrant to our 

 Islands, and occasionally nests in various parts of 

 England, though it is seldom allowed to rear its 

 young in peace. In all its habits it closely resembles 

 the Hen-Harrier, but is a smaller and more slenderly- 

 made bird. From what I read in the ' Zoologist,' the 

 ' Field,' and other publications, as w-ell as from private 

 correspondence, 1 am disposed to consider this species 

 as by far the most common of the three British 

 Harriers in England at the present time. It was 

 fii'st distinguished from the Hen-Harrier by Colonel 

 Montagu in 1802, but has probably often been mis- 

 taken for that species by subsequent waiters, although 

 it is very distinguishable, when on wing, by the 

 darker grey mantle of the old males, and the smaller 

 size, greater proportionate length of wings, more 



