Syn. of Syn. of General tion. bird. MARSH HARRIER. CIRCUS RUFUS, Briss. PLATE IX. Circus æruginosus, Shaw's Zool. 13. 41. Buteo æruginosus, Flem. Br. Anim. 1. 55. 25. Falco rufus, Lath. Ind. Ornith. v. 1. p. 25. 51.—Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 266. 77. Circus palustris, Briss. 1. p. 401. La Harpaye, Buff. Ois. v. 1. p. 217.-Id. Pl. Enl. 460. Busard Harpaye, ou de Marais, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. 1. 69. 2d ed. Harpy Falcon, Lath. Syn. 1. p. 51. Falco æruginosus, Linn. 1. p. 130.—Fauna Suec. No. 66.-Gmel. Syst 1. p. 267.-Lath. Ind. Ornith. 1. 25. 53.-Raii Syn. p. 17. A. 4.— Muller, No. 69. Falco arundinaceus, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. v. 1. p. 681. 19. Le Busard de marais, Buff. Ois. 1. p. 218.-Id. Pl. Enl. 424. a yearling bird. Sumpfweihe, Meyer, Taschenb. Deut. v. 1. p. 43. Moor Buzzard, Br. Zool. 1. No. 57. t. 27.-Id. fol. p. 67. t. A. 5.—Arct. THE female bird of this species, which is represented on descrip- Plate 9, measures twenty-three inches in length, and in Female breadth, with extended wings, four feet five inches. The bill is bluish-black. The cutting edge of the upper mandible has a very slight festoon. Cere lemon-yellow. Nostrils covered with the upturned bristles of the front part of the lores. Irides blackish-brown. Crown of the head, throat, and cheeks, straw-yellow, streaked with brown. Behind the ear-coverts, and surrounding the neck, is a ruff of stiffish feathers. Upon the ridge of the wing, a patch of strawyellow. The rest of the body of dark umber-brown, passing upon the belly into reddish-brown. Legs long, the tarsi slender, and, together with the toes, yellow. Claws black. Male bird. The male, taken at the same time, is rather inferior in size, and of an uniform umber-brown colour, with the exception H of a small spot of the straw-yellow upon the occiput. And in him the irides are yellow. The young differ from the adult birds in being without the straw-yellow upon the head or wing-coverts. Varieties of this species, with more or less white, are also frequently found. I kept one of these birds in confinement for some years, in which the throat, bastard-wing, the first four quill-feathers, and the outer tail-feathers, were of a pure white. The rest of its plumage was of dark umber-brown. Marshy districts and moors are the favourite haunts of Food. this species. They prey on wild ducks and other waterfowl, young game, leverets, and water rats. Lizards and frogs also form a great portion of their food; and they will sometimes take perch, and other kinds of fish. Their flight is slow, and generally near the ground, beating it with great regularity in search of their prey; but during the season of incubation, the males will soar to a considerable height, and remain suspended in the air for a long interval of time. They build in the tall tufts of grass or rushes which grow in marshy places, and lay four or five round eggs, entirely white; and not spotted with brown, as asserted in the Index Ornithologicus of LATHAM. These birds abound in all the marshy districts of England and Scotland, and, according to MONTAGU, are very numerous in Wales, where they prey upon the rabbits that inhabit the sand-banks of the shores of Caermarthenshire. The same writer observes, that he has seen no less than nine feeding together upon the carcass of a sheep. In Holland they are of course numerous, from the nature of the country; and rare in Switzerland. They are migratory upon the Continent, but remain with us the whole year. The affinity between this species and the Hen Harrier, is shewn in the general contour of the form, the length of the tarsi, and in the similarity also of their habits and manners. HEN HARRIER. CIRCUS CYANEUs, Flem. PLATE X. Male and Syn. of Adult and middleaged Male. Syn. of Female and Young. Circus cyaneus, Flem. Br. Anim. 1. 53. 20. Falco cyaneus, Mont. Trans. Linn. Soc. v. 9. p. 182.- Meyer, Taschenb. Falco cyaneus, Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 276.—Linn. Syst. 1. p. 126. 10.—Lath. Falco torquatus (mas.), Briss. Ornith. 1. p. 345.—Ib. 8vo, p. 100. Falco Bohemicus, Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 299. sp. 107.-Falco albicans, Id. Falco griseus, Gmel. p. 275. sp. 100.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. 1. p. 37, 86. Lanarius cinereus, Briss. 1. p. 365. 17.—Id. 8vo. p. 106. L'Oiseau St Martin, Buff. Õis. v. 1. p. 212.—Id. Pl. Enl. 459. Busard St Martin, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. 1. p. 72. Busard à croupion blanc, Vail. Ois. d'Afriq. Sept. v. 1. Pl. 8. Hen Harrier, Brit. Zool. 1. No. 58. t. 28.-Will. (Angl.) p. 72.—Albin, New York Falcon, Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. p. 209. Falco Pygargus, Linn. 1. p. 126. 11.--Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 277. sp. 11.— Falco Hudsonii et Buffonii, Gmel. 2. p. 277. sp. 19. and 103. Falco rubiginosus, Lath. Ind. Ornith. 1. p. 27. sp. 56. Falco torquatus (fem.), Briss. 1. p. 345. 7.—Ib. 8vo, p. 100. La Soubuse, Buff. Ois. v. 1. p. 215. t. 9.—Id. Pl. Enl. 443. young female, and 480, young male. Le Busard Grenouillard, Vail. Ois. d'Afriq. 1. Pl. 23. Ring-tail, Br. Zool. 1. No. 59.—Id. fol. p. 68. t. A. 7.—Lath. Syn. 1. Ring-tail Hawk, Edwards, t. 107. Arct. Zool. 2. No. 106. White-rumped Bay Falcon, Lath. Syn. 1. p. 54. Hudson's Bay Ring-tail, Lath. Syn. 1. p. 91. 76. Cayenne Ring-tail, Lath. Syn. 1. p. 91. Marsh Hawk, Wils. Amer. Orn. ed. by Sir Wm. Jardine, 2. 272. pl. 51. fig. 2. THE above long list of synonyms arises from this bird having been considered by many ornithological writers as two distinct species,―a mistake doubtless occasioned by the very dissimilar appearance of the sexes in the adult state, with respect to size and colour. The facts, however, adduced by MONTAGU *, to prove the identity of the two, are clear and satisfactory; to me particularly so, as the result of my own observations lead entirely to the same opinion. Mons. TEMMINCK, also, in his valuable "Manuel," has shewn so little doubt upon the subject, as at once to bring the synonyms of the Hen Harrier and Ring-tail together. The species, though not very numerous, is pretty generally found throughout Britain, frequenting low marshy situations, or wide moors. The flight of the Hen Harrier is always low, but at the same time smooth and buoyant, beating its hunting grounds with great regularity, and at stated intervals. It is very destructive to game, which it pounces upon the ground; it also feeds upon small birds and animals, lizards Food. and frogs. It breeds on the open wastes, and frequently in thick furze covers; the nest is placed on the ground, and the eggs are four or five in number, of a skim-milk white, round at each end, and nearly as large as the Marsh Harrier+. The young males, for the first year, are similar in appearance to the females, after which they gradually assume the grey plumage that distinguishes the adult. It is common in France, Germany, and Holland, inhabiting the low and flat districts; but in Switzerland, and all mountainous countries, it is of rare occurrence‡. PLATE 10. Fig. 1. Shews the male bird, in perfect plumage, and of the natural size. * See Supplement to Ornith. Dict. article Hen Harrier. + I refer my readers to some very interesting particulars respecting the habits and economy of this species, detailed at considerable length by Sir William Jardine, in a note to his valuable edition of Wilson's American Ornithology. Some doubts still remain as to the identity of our own and the American species. Nest, &c. General description. Male bird. Female. Bill bluish-black. Cere wax-yellow, almost hidden by the projecting bristles at the base of the bill. Irides king's yellow. Head, neck, upper part of the breast, back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, bluish-grey, passing into pearl-grey. The rump white. Quills black. Breast, belly, under wing and tail-coverts, pure white, without any spots or streaks, as in the Ash-coloured Harrier. Middle tail-feathers grey; the outer ones having their inner webs white, barred with blackish-grey. Legs and toes lemon-yellow. Fig. 2. The female. The space surrounding the orbits of the eyes white. Crown of the head and ear-coverts umber-brown. The ruff composed of stiff white feathers, with brown shafts. Upper parts umber-brown, more or less varied with yellowish or reddish-brown. Quills dusky, barred underneath with white. Breast, belly and thighs yellowishwhite, with long streaks of deep orange-brown. Rump white. Tail barred with clove and umber-brown. Legs yellow. ASH-COLOURED HARRIER. CIRCUS CINERACEUS, Shaw. PLATE XI. Circus cineraceus, Shaw's Zool. 13. 41. sp. 3. Buteo cineraceus, Flem. Br. Anim. 1. 55. No. 26. Falco cineraceus, Mont. Ornith. Dict.-Id. Suppl.-Trans. Lin. Soc. 9. p. 188. Busard Montagu, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. 1. p. 86. Die Halbweihe, Naum Vog. 4. p. 180. t. 21. p. 33. Ash-coloured Falcon, Montagu, Ornith. Dict.-Id. Suppl. The British Fauna is indebted to the persevering researches and acute discrimination of our countryman Montagu for |