COMMON HARRIER. 
229 
of the manners of this bird, which later observa- 
tions have confirmed, and we now copy this, 
rather than attempt to rewrite the substance in 
other words. “ The habits of the British Harrier 
differ considerably according to the district they 
inhabit. In a country possessing a considerable 
proportion of plain and mountain, where I have 
had the best opportunities of observing them, 
they always retire at the commencement of the 
breeding season to the wildest hills, and during 
this time not one individual will be found in the 
low country. For several days previous to com- 
mencing their nest, the male and female are seen 
soaring about, as if in search of or examining a 
proper situation, are very noisy, and sport with 
and cuff each other in the air. When the place 
is fixed, and the nest completed, the female is left 
alone, and when hatching, will not suffer the 
male to visit the nest ; but, on his approach, 
rises, and screaming, drives him to a distance. 
The nest is made very frequently in a heath bush, 
by the edge of some ravine, and is composed 
of sticks, with a very slender lining. It is some- 
times also formed in one of those places called 
scars, or where there has been a rush on the side 
of a steep hill after a mountain thunder shower ; 
here little or no nest is made, and the eggs are 
merely laid on the bare earth, which has been 
scraped hollow. The young are well supplied 
with food, we believe by both parents ; and 
