192 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH INLAND BIRDS 
and autumn. The adult male is grey, with white 
beneath ; the female is chiefly brown, with a barred 
tail, and the immature birds are brown also. On 
the heathery hillsides where it now alone breeds in 
this country, the nest is little more than a hollow 
in the heather, though abroad, in marshes, it makes 
a substantial nest of dry vegetation, like the Marsh 
Harrier's. Four to six eggs are laid, bluish-white, 
sometimes with faint reddish spots and stains. 
ASH-COLOURED HARRIER. 
(^Circus cineraceus.) 
Montagu's Harrier. — In all its stages of plumage 
this Harrier closely resembles the last species, and 
its chief noticeable distinction is its slightly smaller 
body and proportionately longer wings and tail. 
It is only a summer visitor to this country, arriving 
in April, and trying to nest, occasionally with 
success, in May. The attempt is made most fre- 
quently in the remaining marsh-lands of the Eastern 
counties, but sometimes elsewhere. It builds on 
the ground, in marshes making a substantial nest 
of sedge, but only a slight one when it builds on 
dry, heathy ground. The four or five eggs are like 
the Hen Harrier's. 
