2 
MARSH-HARRIER. 
birds being attacked. The Buzzard, as this species is always styled by the natives, appears to be perpetually 
sailing over the rush-marshes and reed-beds in the neighbourhood of the broads. I have noticed one pitch, 
as if on prey, at least half a dozen times while hunting over a single marsh ; but on subsequently examining 
each spot, the bearings of which were carefully marked, I could discover no signs of any bird or small animal 
having been destroyed; the prey, if any was captured, must in every case have been entirely consumed. 
I have frequently seen the greatest excitement displayed by Peewits and Redshanks while the Harrier was 
beating over the marshes in which their young were concealed. At times, after hovering for a second or two, 
the robber would descend into the cover; and I have little doubt that the unfledged young would prove an 
acceptable and easily procured meal. Snakes, frogs, and mice, and even sucli small game as dragonflies, are, 
I conclude from the remains I have come across, included in their bill of fare. Dead or disabled birds, if 
incapable of flight, form most probably the chief portion of their diet. I discovered the toe of a Hawk I 
believe to have belonged to this species in a trap I set baited with a Coot; the teeth had unfortunately proved 
too sharp, but a feather or two adhering to the mud left little doubt as to the identity of the escaped bird. 
I can state nothing on my own authority with reference to the nesting of this species. Those I observed 
on Wicken fen were evidently, from their actions, breeding somewhere close at hand. Among the broads in 
Norfolk I have been informed that nests have been found during the last few years; but the descriptions of the 
birds given by my various informants were so conflicting that it was impossible to place any reliance on their 
reports. 
The eastern counties during the months of September and October 1881 were visited by several wanderers 
of this species, as well as numbers of Buzzards. One or two young birds that I examined fresli-killed by the 
gunners of the district were particularly rich in tlicir colouring, the feathers on the head being remarkably 
tawny. I have noticed a few at times, during summer and the early months of autumn, so worn and ragged 
in their plumage as to give the impression that some of the stuffed monstrosities one observes in the windows of 
second-rate taxidermists or on the shelves of museums had suddenly been restored to life and allowed to return 
to their former haunts. 
