BLUE HAWK, OR HEN-HARRIER. 
33 
cineraceus , and is known by the English name of Ash-coloured 
Harrier. It is figured and accurately described in all its states 
of plumage by Vieillot, in his Galerie des Oiseaux, where he has 
dedicated it to its discoverer, calling it Circus Montagui; thus fully 
apologising for having in his article Busard, of the New Dictionary 
of Natural History, declared it to be a state of the other. How 
far, however, it may be considered a compliment to change the 
name given to a species by its discoverer, in order to apply even 
his own to it, we are at a loss to imagine. 
The principal distinctive characters of the two species are to 
be found in the relative length of the wings and tail, and in the 
proportional lengths of the primaries. In the Ash-coloured Har¬ 
rier, the sixth primary is shorter than the first, the second is 
much longer than the fifth, and the third is the longest; the wings 
when closed reach to the tip of the tail. In the Hen-Harrier, the 
first primary is shorter than the sixth, the second subequal to the 
fifth, and the third equal to the fourth, the longest; the wings 
closed, not reaching by more than two inches to the tip of the 
tail, which is also but slightly rounded in the latter, while in the 
Ash-coloured it is cuneiform. Other minor differences are besides 
observable in the respective sexes and states of both; but as those 
we have indicated are the only ones that permanently exist, and 
may be found at all times, we shall not dwell on the others, 
especially as Montague’s species appears not to inhabit America. 
We think proper to observe, however, that the adult male of Falco 
cineraceus has the primaries wholly black beneath, while that of 
the F. cyaneus has them black only from the middle to the point; 
and that the tail-feathers, pure white in the latter, are in the former 
spotted beneath. The female in our species is larger than the 
corresponding sex of the other, though the males in both are nearly 
of equal size; and the collar that surrounds the face is strongly 
marked in ours, whereas it is but little apparent in the other. 
VOL. II.—i 
