FALCONID^—CIRCINJE: HARRIERS. 
521 
489. 
Fig. 364. — Ear-parts of Circus. 
Macgillivray.) 
(After 
42. Subfamily CIRCIN/E: Harriers. 
Face surroLuided with an incomplete ruff (as in most 
owls) ; orifice of ear about as large as the eye, and in 
some cases at least with a decided conch (fig. 3G4). Bill 
rather weak, not toothed or notched. Legs lengthened, 
the tarsus approximately equalling the tibia in length (as 
in Accipitrincc) . Wings and tail lengthened. Form light 
and lithe; plumage loose; general organization of the 
buteonine rather than of the falconine division of the 
family. Thus, the scapular process of the coracoid is not 
produced to the clavicle ; there is no median ridge on 
the palate anteriorly ; the septum nasi is less complete than in Falco, and the nostrils are not 
circular with a central tubercle. The harriers constitute a small group, of the single genus 
Circus and its subdivisions (to which some add the African Pohjborotdes) , containing some 15 
or 20 species of various parts of the world. 
171. CIR'CUS. (Gr. KipKos, kirkos, Lat. circus, a kind of hawk ; from its circling in the air. Fig. 
364.) Harriers. Bill thickly beset with many curved radiating bristles surpassing in length 
the cere, which is large and tumid ; tomia lobed or festooned, but neither toothed nor notched. 
Nostrils ovate-oblong, nearly horizontal. Superciliary shield prominent. Tarsus long and 
slender, scutellate before and mostly so behind, reticulate laterally ; toes slender, the middle 
with its claw much shorter than the tarsus ; a basal web between the outer and middle ; all 
tuberculate underneath; claws very large and sharp, much curved. Wings very long and 
ample ; 3d and 4th (piills longest; 1st shorter than 6th ; outer 3-5 (in our species 4) emargi- 
nate on inner webs ; 2d-5th emarginate on outer webs. Tail very long, about | as long as the 
wing, nearly even or rounded, the folded wings falling short of its end. In our species, which 
scarcely differs from the European G. cyaneus, the sexes are extremely unlike in color and size; 
the old ^ is chiefly bluish-gray 
and white; the 9 '^^"^^ yo^^i^g 
both sexes are dark brown and 
reddish-brown or tawny, with 
white rump ; the 9 is mucli 
larger than the ^. The nest 
is placed upon the ground; th<' 
<^ggs are colorless or nearly so. 
The harriers are among the 
most "ignoble" of hawks, prey- 
ing upon humble quarry, chiefly 
small quadrupeds, reptiles, and 
insects, for which they hunt by 
quartering low over the ground 
with an easy gliding flight. 
They are "light-weights" in 
proportion to their linear dimensions, all the members being lengthened, and the wings espe- 
cially ample. The plumage is also loose and fluffy, somewhat like that of owls, to which the 
harriers are related in several respects. 
C. cya'neus hudsonlus. (Lat. cyaneus, blue, the color of the old ^ : hitdsonius, of Hudson's 
Bay. Fig. 365.) American Marsh Hawk, or Harrier. Blue Hawk. Adult ^ : In 
perfect plumage pale pearly-bluish, or bluish-ash, above, with the upper tail-coverts entirely 
pure white ; but most specimens have a dusky wash obscuring the bluish, and retain traces of 
Fig. 365. — Marsli Hawk, nat. size. (Ad nat. del 
