CIRCUS C ENTER ACEU S . 
15 
Habits. Montagu's Harrier delights in swamps, marshes, and open country, more or less studded with low 
jungle and copse, over which it sweeps at a considerable height, rising and falling in its rapid progress, and 
appearing to take in a more extended view of its ground than the Pale Harrier can do in its low-directed flight. 
I have seen it, however, in the great swamp of Mutturajawella, flying steadily from end to end, with a slow 
beating of its long wings, keeping just above the tangled vegetation, and now and then dropping out of sight 
in the sudden manner peculiar to its family. It is crepuscular in its habits, flying about its hunting-grounds 
so late that it cannot be discerned when a little way off; and sharp indeed must be its eyesight to enable it to 
capture the small prey that it lives on, among grass and herbage, with so little light. Layard, whose observations 
tended to show that it fed much upon snakes, has the following wcLl-written description of its flight in the 
Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist . : — “ Nothing can exceed in gracefulness the flight of this bird when beating over the 
ground in search of its quarry. Its long pointed wings smoothly and silently cut the air; now raised high 
over its back, as the bird glides along the furrows ; now drawn to its sides, as it darts rapidly betw eon th( 
rows of standing paddy ; now the wings beat the air with long and even strokes, and now extended, they suppoit 
their possessor in his survey of the marsh over which he is passing. Suddenly he drops, and aftei a 
momentary halt speeds away, with a snake dangling in his talons, to some well-remembered stone or clod 
of earth, and commences his repast." 
I have found the bones of small mammals, probably mice, as well as grasshoppers in this Harrier's 
stomach; but in Ceylon, according to my experience, its chief food consists of lizards. In countries where 
reptiles do not abound, such as England and other parts of Europe, it preys to a certain extent on small 
birds ; and Mr. Howard Saunders, in his very interesting account of the nesting of this Harrier in the Isle of 
Wight, published in the ‘ Field ' of the 2nd September, 1875, found amongst the food brought to the young in 
the nest, “ the remains of several small birds — skylark, titlark, stonechat, and yellow hammer." It will also 
kill snakes, as appears from the above extract from Layard 's writings, and no doubt very frequently preys on 
them in the fetid swamps of the East. Professor Newton, in his edition of Yarrell, speaks of one “which 
was observed to hover about a trap, baited with a rabbit, without pouncing, but on a viper being substituted 
for the rabbit, the bird was immediately caught." The same writer likewise speaks of its swallowing birds' 
eggs whole. 
Montagu's Harrier, like the Moor-Buzzard, seems to prefer perching on level ground to settling 
O J ITT Pi i „,1 4-Lr. h'ncif Krr 
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little knolls and elevations. It roosts also on the ground, and is probably often captured m the East by the 
stealthy jackal, or in northern climes by the still more clever lox. This Haniei toes not appeal 0 ul ' t 
strong powers of vision, when they are subjected to the force of the sun’s rays. I once observed three bm s 
alight, one after the other, on the bare soil, and stand with erect carriage, all looking m the same direction 
after the manner of Gulls ; and being between their position and the rays of the setting sun, I appeared 
not to be noticed by them, for I was enabled to creep steadily forward towards them in the open, and thus 
secured, from among the trio, one of the finest female specimens in my collection. 
I have heard this Harrier make a weak squealing note, but can say nothing fuitliei as to its loice; in 
fact the Harriers, as a group, seem to be among the most silent of raptorial birds, little oi nothing concerning 
their notes having been placed on record by the numerous observers of their otherwise interesting habits. 
When viewed on a glorious tropical morning, there is something very striking in the noiseless course of this 
and other Harriers as they glide silently over the misty paddy-swamps of the interior, while the luxuriant 
forest surrounding these, to the lover of nature, most interesting spots re-echoes with the voice of hundreds 
of the smaller bird creation. 
This species thrives in confinement ; and Mr. Saunders, in his article above referred to, records that t le 
young bird in question, when it had acquired the free use of its wings, flew “ round the lumber-room in 
which it had been placed in a buoyant manner, and took great pleasure in a bath, in which it would stand 
knee deep, enjoying being sprinkled with water, after which it would spread its wings and bask in the sun. 
Notification. The Ashy Harrier does not breed within the Indian limits, but in northern climes, where it 
propagates its species, it nests in May and June. In Europe and Great Britain its nest is built, as elsewhere, 
on the ground, and is made of small sticks, rushes, grass, roots, &c., the latter composing the interior or lining. 
It is more slightly built, as a rule, than the nests of other Harriers ; but its size must necessarily depend on e 
