CIRCUS CYANEUS.
Hen Harrier.

Falco cyaneus, et pygargus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom.
strigiceps, Nilss. Faun. Suec., tom. i. pee
Circus Aigithus, Leach, Syste Cat. of Indig. Mamm. & Birds in Brit. Mus., p. 9.
gallinarius, Savig. Descr. de ’Egypte, Hist. Nat., tom. i. p. 92.
pygargus, Cuv. Réen. Anim., edit. 1817, tom. i. p. 324,
—— (Sirigiceps) cyaneus, et uliginosus, Kaup, Mus. Senckenb.
cyaneus, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 549.
Pygargus dispar, Koch, Syst. der Baier. Zool., p. 128.
Strigiceps pygargus, Bonap. Geog. and Comp. List. of Birds of Eur.
Buteo cyaneus, Jenyns, Man. Brit. Vert. Anim., p. 89.

1. pp. 126-128,

 

 

 

> P: 258:

 

Oo

and N. Amer., p. 5

 

Wenz I to say to the rising ornithologists of the present day, ‘If you wish to see the Hen Harrier and its
consort the Ringtail performing their buoyant and elegant flight, and hunting in concert over an open part
of the country, go to the Gossmoor of Cornwall, the lofty hills of charming Devon, the great heaths of Surrey,
Sussex, and Hampshire, the flat fenny districts of Suffolk, Norfolk, Huntingdon, and Lincolnshire, the York-
shire wolds, the fells of Westmoreland and Cumberland, the rushy hill-sides of the Scottish border, the
Cheviots, and the Grampians, as far north as the land trends,” I fear I should be sending them on a bootless
errand; yet there was a time, and that within the present century, when the birds might have been seen in
any of the localities above enumerated. Such, however, is now rarely the case. Nature and her productions
have been greatly interfered with; some species have been extirpated from districts where they were
formerly plentiful, while others have become abundant in situations where previously they were but little
known. That the Harriers and other large predatory birds are no longer to be found in their wonted
haunts is not to be wondered at when we remember how large a portion of the country formerly in a natural
condition has now been brought under cultivation, and that the keeper and the shepherd exterminate them
whenever they can. It is not to be expected that such people are imbued with the love for nature and her
wonderful works which reigns in the breast of the true naturalist; they do not even care to read the many

beautiful passages which have been written on our native birds, from the time of Gilbert White to that of
those authors who have but recently passed away, among which none are perhaps more truly descriptive of

the habits and actions of birds than Macgillivray’s,—who, speaking of the Circus cyaneus, says :—

“ Having examined the form, and somewhat of the structure of the Hen Harrier, we are prepared for the
exhibition of its faculties. Kneel down here, then, among the long broom, and let us watch the pair that
have just made their appearance on the shoulder of the hill. Leave these beautiful flowerets to the bd
of yonder botanist, who, should be wander hitherward, will be delighted to cull the lovely tufts of maiden-

pinks that surround us. a ane —
: : ° ir circling fle 1 rentle fle 4r expanded wings
‘How beautifully they glide along, in their circling flight, with gentle flaps of the : gs,
: : . neat ajls incli from side ide, as they balance themselves or
floating as it were in the air, their half-spread tails inclined from side to side, as y bale ae S
istinguls > male fr > female. ley
alter their course! Now they are near enough to enable us to distinguish the male from the femé ae
; i ; ar ees, jmes s 7 ast S ‘nh the
seem to be huntine in concert ; and their search is keen ; for they fly at times so low as Ae to a |
5 5 . . ae may Ds :
re : ; : oT re . vers, fixing himself in the air like the
bushes, and never rise bigher than thirty feet. The grey bird Rey fixing at eS folte a Heme
a ' are reak i 2 COVGIe UU yey TOHOW Her not,
Kestrel ; now he stoops, but recovers himself. A hare breaks from the a j 2
‘t would not escape so well. The female now hovers for
though doubtless, were they to spy her young one, 1t woulc cu ‘db. closed Hee aviade ane
oe : Hotah lickjspe ier rp
a few seconds, gradually sinks for a short space, ascends, turns a little to one side, c F oF :
nase Ade (pole ‘ , > es WALe IG
comes to the ground. She has secured her prey ; for she remains concealed among the furze ;
L _ e KR C d
g 7
: s fs -oe or four vards, sweeps alon
male shoots away, flying at the height of three or four yards, sweeps ¢ while: “Henowienias
; . the sedgy pool, and hovers there a short while. e s
sdgy pc

o the bawthorn hedge, bounds over
Oo g

it to the other side, turns away to skim over ‘pwith’e rapid pliding fight bibdieyhave
upon the grass field, when a Partridge springs off, and he pursues | c : é ase isha
f “view the meantime the ‘ as | ¢ up,
i 7 conceals them from our view, In s §
turned to the right, and the wood concea nite eee
‘ SS - presence that she passes within \
and advances, keenly inspecting the ground, and so heedless of our presence thé | ey eee
er A : : in s ‘ecovers herself, and, rising ‘
1 ssing the l again stoops, but recoy [ g
Pai ‘ay she speeds, and in passing the pool ag
yards of us. Away she speeds, Q :
j is sight.
Mc all bn = a ae f larger, on young hares and rabbits, on mice,
farrier feeds g irds and the young of larger, j g 5
“The Hen Harrier feeds upon small birds an young rec ay
For the most part it pounces upon its ed a 2
o far from confining itself to feeble game, it has been kno
so fi g

is they repose upon the ground;
frogs, lizards, and serpents.
but it also pursues birds In open flight and, ;
to seize the Red Grouse, Ptarmigan, and Partridge.

sh in LA

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