THE HEN-HARRIER. 



Circus cyaneus (Linnaeus). 

 Plate 30. 



This Harrier, which shows such a marked difference in the size and colour of 

 the sexes as to have caused them at one time to be considered different species, 

 is resident, though yearly diminishing in numbers, in some of the wilder parts 

 of the British Islands. A few still breed in the Orkneys, Outer Hebrides, and 

 Ireland, and within recent years it is said to have nested in England, as well as in 

 Wales. It has a wide breeding range in Europe, from as far north as Scandinavia 

 and Russia to Spain and Italy, whilst in winter it visits North Africa and Asia. 



The Hen-Harrier haunts rushy, furze-covered land or moors and hill-sides 

 clothed with heather and broom, and nests on the ground, sometimes under cover 

 of a furze-bush or among tall heather, at others on the bare hill-side. The nest 

 is built of sticks and sedges, being more lightly constructed if placed in the latter 

 situation than in others, when it is often composed of a mass of dead herbage. 

 From four to six eggs are laid, bluish-white in colour, and occasionally, but 

 not always, marked with rust-coloured freckles. 



The Hen-Harrier feeds on mice and other small mammals, reptiles, birds and 

 their eggs, on which it pounces unexpectedly, and, unlike the Marsh-Harrier, does 

 not hesitate to chase and strike down birds as large as the Red-Grouse. 



When seeking its prey it shows wonderful command of flight, quartering the 

 ground with great exactness as it flies with measured beats of the wings close to the 

 ground, hovering as something catches its eye, or sailing gracefully over a hedge. 



Macgillivray, who knew this bird well, has given a good description of its habits. 



The female, known as the Ring-tail, is much larger than her mate. 



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