. Hand-book to the birds of Great Britain . e female, which he put off the nest inthe Isle of Wight, as flying away in repeated and ever widen-ing circles. The same feature was remarked on the return tothe nest: the wide circles gradually narrowed, and the wingswere suddenly closed as the bird swept over the nest anddropped upon it. The last-named observer also states thatthe young birds sometimes circle and hover with outspreadwings and tail, like Kestrels, though less steadily, and the whitecolour of the tail-coverts distinguishes the species at a glance. Nest.—A very slight one, generally a
. Hand-book to the birds of Great Britain . e female, which he put off the nest inthe Isle of Wight, as flying away in repeated and ever widen-ing circles. The same feature was remarked on the return tothe nest: the wide circles gradually narrowed, and the wingswere suddenly closed as the bird swept over the nest anddropped upon it. The last-named observer also states thatthe young birds sometimes circle and hover with outspreadwings and tail, like Kestrels, though less steadily, and the whitecolour of the tail-coverts distinguishes the species at a glance. Nest.—A very slight one, generally a mere hollow in theground, lined with dry grass. In the fens, however, says that it is substantially built of sedge. A nestfound by Mr. Seebohm in Germany in a field of rye is thusdescribed by him :— There was no hole whatever in theground: the rye had only been trampled down, and a slightbut somewhat neat nest made of corn-stalks, and lined witha little dry straw. The nest was rather more than nine inches PLATE XLIII. ^M^^. MARSH - HARRIER. THE HARRIERS. 133 ill diameter, and about two inches and a half deep in themiddle. Eggs.—From four to six in number, laid at intervals aboutthe end of May. They are bluish-white, but, on rare occasions,have some pale reddish spots. Axis, i-6-i*8; diam., 1-3-1-45. HI. THE MARSH-HARRIER. CIRCUS ^RUGINOSUS. Falco ce7ugi?josus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 130 (1766).Circus cdrugi7ios7is, Macg. Brit. B. iii. p. 382 (1840); Yarr. Brit. B. i. p. 127 (1871); Sharpe, Cat. B. i. p. 69 (1874); Dresser, B. Eur. v. p. 415, pis. 326,327 (1878); B. O. U. List Br. B. p. 92 (1883); Saunders,Man. Br. B. p. 305 (1889); Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B. partxiv. (1890). {Plate XLIII.)Adult Male.—General colour above dark brown, the feathersslightly margined with rufous ; lesser wing-coverts buffy-white,with dark brown centres; outer greater-coverts, primary-coverts,and secondaries bluish-ashy, slightly tipped with white, theinnermost
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