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THE ASH-COLORED FALCON. 
to present a kind of mottled buff and chestnut aspect ; the upper surface of the tail is marked 
with partial dark bands and its under surface is very distinctly bound with broad bands of 
black and grayish-white. The funnel-shaped depression round the eyes, technically called the 
concha, or shell, is brown towards the base of the feathers, but merges into a white eyebrow 
above, reaching to the cere, and in a white streak below, edged with brown. The length of 
the female is about two inches more than that of the male, and her spread of wing is about 
three feet six inches. 
Another example of this genus is to be found in the Moor Buzzard as the bird has very 
wrongly been termed, or the Marsh Harrier, as it ought more properly to be named. The 
bird is also known as the Duck Hawk and Harpy. 
This handsome biid is considerably larger than the preceding species, the female being 
about two feet in length, and the male about three inches shorter. It is not a very uncommon 
bird, being found most extensively upon marshy ground, where it can obtain abundance of 
food. It generally preys on water birds, mice, water rats, various reptiles, frogs, rats, and 
fish. It is rather partial to young game, and is apt to be a dangerous neighbor to a preserve, 
snatching the young partridges and pheasants from their parents. Sometimes it is sufficiently 
bold to enter the precincts of the farm, and to carry away a young chicken or a duckling. 
Rabbits also, both young and old, fall victims to this rapacious bird, which sweeps on noise- 
less wing ov er the common, carefully choosing the morning and evening, when the rabbits are 
almost sure to be out of their burrows. 
The Marsh Harrier appears never to take up its residence in dry localities, but always to 
prefer the fenny district, whether of the coast or inland. The nest of this species is placed on 
the ground, and is composed of twigs or stems of coarse grass, and is sheltered from observa- 
tion by an overhanging bush, or by a tuft of rushes, fern, or long grass. The eggs are white, 
and about three or four in number. 
Like the hen harrier, the male Marsh Harrier is of a much grayer tint than his mate, the 
gray hues being not fully assumed until the bird he s completed his third year, and spreading 
more widely on each successive year. 
The Marsh Hawk ( Circus Tmdsonius) is the only one in America of numerous species. 
It is called American Harrier from its supposed resemblance in habit to the English bird of 
that name. It is especially a meadow or marsh bird. It is held in good esteem by the planters 
of the Southern States, as it drives away the rice birds while it hunts the fields for its own 
prey. It is widely distributed ; in Hew England it is very common. 
The Ash-colored Falcon, sometimes called Montague’ s Harrier, is frequently found 
in Nepal and other parts of Asia, but it is also a resident of Europe. 
This species is more slender in its form than either of the two preceding birds, being 
hardly more than two-thirds of the weight of the hen harrier, although its length is nearly 
the same. In its habits it is very like the hen harrier, skimming over the ground in much 
the same manner, but with a more rapid flight. Its food consists chiefly of small birds and 
reptiles, to the latter of which creatures the Ash-colored Falcon appears to be especially partial, 
no less than five lizards having been found in the stomach of one of these birds. It is not very 
uncommon in fenny districts of Europe. Specimens of this bird have also been obtained in 
Nepal and other parts of India, and it is also said to be an inhabitant of Southern Africa. 
The color of the adult male is bluish-gray on the upper parts of the body, the secondaries 
being marked with three bars of dark -gray brown, and the primaries black. The upper 
surface of the tail is bluish -gray upon the central feathers, and white upon those at the side, 
marked with several bars of orange-red ; their under-surface is grayish-white, with several 
transverse bars of grayish -brown. The under parts of the body are nearly white, barred with 
numerous transverse streaks of orange-red, like those on the tail. The legs and toes are 
yellow, the cere is yellowish-green, and the beak is almost black. The length of the bird is 
about seventeen inches. 
