Birds of Prey. 
1 1 
has a notch or indentation on the outer web of the fifth primary, this notch 
not being found in Montagu's Harrier. This species no longer nests in England, 
but is still found breeding in Northern Scotland and a few counties in Ireland. 
Its breeding-range extends throughout Central and Northern Europe across 
Siberia to Japan, and it winters in Southern Europe, the Indian Peninsula, and 
China. The food of the Hen-Harrier is varied, and consists of small rodents, 
lizards, frogs, insects, and also small birds, as well as their nestlings and eggs. The 
nest is placed on the ground, generally in a marshy situation, and the eggs are from 
four to six in number, bluish white in colour, and from one and-three-quarters to two 
inches in length. 
MONTAGU’S 
HARRIER. 
(Circus pygargus.) 
This is a smaller and more slightly built bird than the foregoing 
species, and is recognised by the longitudinal rufous streaks on 
the under parts and thighs. The wing-formula is sufficient to 
distinguish the females and young birds from the corresponding 
plumages of the Hen-Harrier ( see above). The range of Montagu’s Harrier is not 
so extensive as that of the latter species, as it does not range so far north on the 
Continent, nor does it extend into Eastern Siberia. It has bred in several counties 
of England and Wales, and scarcely a year passes without its nest being found in 
some part of our area, but at present it has only occurred accidentally in Ireland. 
In habits the present species resembles the Hen-Harrier, and like that bird it devours 
a number of eggs. The nest consists of a hollow in the ground, lined with dry 
grass. The eggs are bluish-white, from four to six in number, and measure 
about one-and-three-quarter inches in length. 
This is the largest of the three British species of Harrier, 
and is of a much darker type of plumage than the Hen-Harrier 
or Montagu’s Harrier. The male is a handsome bird of a dark 
rufous brown, with a grey tail, and a considerable amount 
of bluish ashy on the wing-coverts and quills ; the under surface is creamy buff, 
streaked with brown, and the thighs and abdomen are rufous. The female is a 
brown bird with a creamy buff crown, and the young birds are also brown with the 
head at first uniform like the back. 
Although the Marsh-Harrier still nests in certain districts in Ireland, it has 
become extinct as a breeding bird in England, where it used to be not uncommon 
in the fen-country. It is found thoughout Europe and as far east as Central 
Asia. Its food resembles that of the Harriers already mentioned, but it is a 
great egg-robber, and devours also numbers of chickens in the countries where 
it is abundant. In Southern Spain it nests in colonies, and the nest is 
generally placed on the ground in a reed-bed, the old nest of a Coot or Moorhen 
being sometimes utilized. The eggs are from three to six in number, pale bluish 
white, witlr scarcely any markings of pale brown : the lining in the freshly 
blown egg is bluish. 
THE 
MARSH-HARRIER. 
( Circus aruginosus.) 
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