THE HARRIERS. 
127 
by its bluish-grey plumage, white upper tail-coverts, uniform 
white thighs,' and the bluish-ashy colour of the throat and 
chest. An adult female can alw.ays be recognised by hwing a 
“scallop,” or indentation, on the outer web of the fifth pri- 
mary quill. This character k also sufficient to tell the young 
birds of the Hen-Harrier from those of Montagu’s Harrier. 
Range in Great Britain.-Thc present species was_ formerly 
much more generally distributed as a brccdmg-species than it 
is now. Its numbers have been decreased by its being shot 
down by gamekeepers, and the bringing_ into cultivation of 
much of the waste-land in which the species delights has also 
been one of the chief causes of its diminution in numbers. 
At one time the Hen-Harrier used to breed in many counties 
of England and Wales, but in most of these it has ceased to 
do so for the reasons above-mentioned. In the Highland 
counties of Scotland the species still nests, as well as in the 
Orkneys and Shetlands, and also in the Hebrides. In Ireland 
Mr. Ussher states that it breeds sparingly in Kerry and (lal- 
way, and possibly still in Antrim, Queen s County, Tipperary, 
and Waterford, but has beeome very scarce. It seems to have 
been exterminated from Donegal and Londonderry. 
Range outside the British Islands. — Throughout the greater 
part of Europe the Hen-Harrier is chiefiy known between 
spring and autumn, and it is probably only in the British 
Islands that any remain during the winter. It breeds in 
Northern Europe, and has been noticed by Dr. Collett froni 
East Finmark, and Wollcy found it breeding in Lapland beyond 
68° N. lat, according to Professor Newton. Mr. Seebohm 
states that he has seen the Hen-Harrier on the tundras ol 
Northern Russia and Siberia, more than a hundred mdes 
beyond the Arctic Circle, and its range extends across Siberia 
to Corea and the Japanese Islands. In suitable localities the 
species breeds in Central Europe from Denmark and Ger- 
many to the Alps and Carpathians, as well as in Centr.al 
Franee. In winter it migrates south and visits North-eastcin 
Africa, India, and China, in all of which countries it appears 
in some numbers in the cold season. 
HaMts. — The Hen-Harrier is an inhabitant of the fens and 
moors, where it may be seen quartering the ground in search 
