THE HARRIERS. 
133 
ill diameter, and about two inches and a half deep in the 
middle.” , . , . 1 u * 
Eggs.— From four to six in number, laid at intervals about 
the end of May. They are bluish-white, but, on rare occasions, 
have some pale reddish spots. Axis, i'6-i’8; diam., i’3-i’4S. 
III. THE MARSH-HARRIER. CIRCUS A5RUGINOSUS. 
Falco ceruginosus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 130 (1766). 
Circus csruginosus, Macg. Brit. B. iii. p. 3^2 (1^0); New. 
ed. Yarr. Brit. B. i. p. 127 (1871); Sharpe, Cat. B. Bnt. 
Mus. i. p. 69 (1874) ; Dresser, B. Eur. v. p. 41S. pls. 326, 
T27 (1878) ; B. O. U. List Br. B. p. 92 (1883) ; Saunders, 
Man. Br. B. p. 305 (1889) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B. part 
xiv. (1S90). 
(Plate XLIII.) 
Adult Male. — General colour above dark brown, the feathers 
sli-htly margined with rufous ; lesser wing-coverts buffy-white, 
with dark brown centres; outer greater-coverts, pnmary-covcrts, 
and secondaries bluish-ashy, slightly tipped with white, the 
innermost secondaries brown, washed with more or less ashy- 
grev ■ primary-ciuills blackish-brown, paler at the tips, creamy- 
white at the base of the inner web, increasing in extent towards 
the secondaries, which are entirely light ashy below ; upper 
tail-coverts white, slightly washed with grey, and tinged with 
rufous ; tail uniform bluish ash-colour, paler and somewhat 
fulvescent underneath ; entire head and neck creamy-buff, 
streaked with dark brown, the mantle being also slightly 
streaked; facial ruff indistinct, of the same colour as the 
rest of the head and neck ; sides of face and throat white, 
narrowly streaked with dark brown, the hinder margin of the 
ear-coverts uniform brown; under surface of body creamy-bu ft, 
the breast longitudinally streaked with brown ; abdomen and 
thighs more rufous, with fulvous edges to the feathers, so that 
they appear to be streaked with buff; under wing-coverts and 
axillarics uniform buffy-white, the latter having brown shaft- 
lines ; cere greenish-yellow; bill blackish; feet yellow, the 
claws black; iris bright yellow. Total length, 22-5 inches; 
culmen, 1-55; wing, i6-o; tail, lo’o; tarsus, 3'4- 
Adult Female. — In 1874, when I wrote the first volume of 
the “ Catalogue of Birds,” I was under the impression that 
