. Hand-book to the birds of Great Britain . alking species, whereas the Gymnogeneis forest-loving and arboreal in its ways. It has, moreover,the curious faculty, not yet discovered in the Secretary, whichis a weak-kneed individual from all accounts, of being ableto turn its leg backwards or forwards at will by an apparentdislocation of the tibio-tarsal joint, an advantage in the catch-ing of reptiles which is said to be shared by its relative, theAmerican genus Geranospizias. To this section of the Birdsof Prey belong also the Chanting-Goshawks {Aldierax) ofAfrica. THE HARRIERS. GENUS CIRCUS.
. Hand-book to the birds of Great Britain . alking species, whereas the Gymnogeneis forest-loving and arboreal in its ways. It has, moreover,the curious faculty, not yet discovered in the Secretary, whichis a weak-kneed individual from all accounts, of being ableto turn its leg backwards or forwards at will by an apparentdislocation of the tibio-tarsal joint, an advantage in the catch-ing of reptiles which is said to be shared by its relative, theAmerican genus Geranospizias. To this section of the Birdsof Prey belong also the Chanting-Goshawks {Aldierax) ofAfrica. THE HARRIERS. GENUS CIRCUS. Circus^ Lacep. Mem. de ITnst. Paris, iii. p. 506 (1806). Type, C. cyaneus (L.). The Harriers are as nearly as possible cosmopolitan do not extend very far north, and affecting, as they do,localities suited to their mode of life, they are absent fromsome of the forest-clad regions of both Hemispheres. Thereis not, however, a single continent that is without its Harrier,and these birds are found in North and South America, Africa,. THE HARRIERS. I 25 Europe and the whole of Asia, AustraHa and New Zealand,and even the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Although theyare really Long-legged Hawks, of the same type as the Sparrow-Hawks, the ruff which they have round their face has suggestedtheir alliance with the Owls, and it is usual in works on NaturalHistory to find the Harriers placed near the Owls on accountof this peculiarity, which, however, is shared by the RuffedGos-Hawks {Micrnstii?-)^ and no one has as yet suggestedthat the latter are allied to Owls. In my opinion, this singlecharacter shows no absolute affinity whatever between theHarriers or the Ruffed Gos-Hawks and the Owls, which arealtogether distinct and separate. That the genus Mic7astur andthe genus Circus have certain relationship is further proved bythe fact that both genera have the hinder aspect of the tarsuscovered with reticulate scales. Three species of Harriers are found in Great Britain. Theyare all
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