HEN-HARRIER. 



165 



and is of a ferruginous colour, with darker varie- 

 gations; the middle of each feather being far darker 

 than the edges, and the back deeper than other 

 parts; the greater wing-feathers are dusky, the 

 rump white, and the tail brown, with broad fer- 

 ruginous bars, the tip being white : the under parts 

 of the bird are generally of a yellowish or reddish 

 cast, marked v^^ith longitudinal brown or blackish 

 spots: round the neck is a ruff of stiff feathers, 

 varied with brown and white: the irides, cere, and 

 legs are yellow, as in the male bird. 



VAR. 



Falco Hudsonius. F. cera pedibusque Jlavis, dorso fuscOf su' 

 perciliis albis, speculo alarum ccerulescentc, Lin, S;^sf. Nat. 



Somewhat superior in size to the British Ring- 

 tail, and of a rather darker or browner cast: over 

 each eye a white streak: beneath whitish with 

 ferruginous spots: thighs barred with that colour; 

 shorter wing-feathers blueish grey, forming a kind 

 of speculum on the wing: tail-feathers, except the 

 two middle ones, whitish with ferruginous bars: 

 bill blueish; cere and legs orange. Inhabits Hud- 

 son's Bay, flying and preying in a similar manner 

 to the European Ring-Tail, and occasionally vary- 

 ing into a deep ferruginous colour. 



