xl I N T R O D U C T I O N .
Genus N a u c l e r u s .
The single species of this form is remarkably different from all the other Kites. Its more slender
structure, lengthened wings, and long forked tail indicate that it possesses vast powers o f flight, and that it
would experience but little difficulty in making a transit from its native country to even very distant shores,
when circumstances force it to leave its own.
3 0 . N a u c l e r u s fu r c a t u s .
Swallow-tailed Kite.
This bird is so strictly American that I have not given a figure of i t ; notwithstanding it has been killed
a t least five times in our islands, the earliest of these occurrences having been a t Ballachulish, in Argyle-
shire, in 1772, since which others have taken place a t Wensleydale, a t Farnham, in Cumberland, and
on the Mersey.
Subfamily CIRCINjE.
The Harriers, comprising numerous species, are so widely dispersed over the face o f the globe as to
warrant the use o f the term universal with reference to their distribution. In each o f the five great divisions
o f the globe one or other o f the seventeen known species are to be found. In Europe there are four, three
of which inhabit and breed in Britain. In habits and economy they do not resemble the Falcons, the
Buzzards, o r the Kites, but assimilate somewhat to the Strigidse, o r Owls. Their actions, indeed, are peculiar
to themselves; and their great flapping wings render them conspicuous objects when flying over a marsh or
the sunny side o f a moor, with keenly searching eyes, in pursuit o f their food, which varies with the nature
of the locality. I f in the fen, reptiles, from the snake to the newt, are captured and eaten, as are frogs and
in sec ts; at the breeding-season young Snipes, Moorhens, o r other nestlings are fortunate if they escape
their scrutinizing eyes. They nest chiefly on the ground, and lay four or five white eggs. Their flight is
somewhat laboured and flapping.
Ornithologists have divided the Harriers into five different g en e ra ; and even the three which inhabit
Britain have each received a separate generic title, a procedure which may seem superfluous to some
persons; hut before placing his veto upon it each objector should have all the known species before him,
when he would perceive that the great Marsh-Harrier, with its brown plumage, differs considerably from
the slender ash-colonred bird with its barred tail, and both from the uniformly coloured and stouter-built
Hen-Harrier. Knowing how strong the feeling is against the multiplication o f generic terms, I have in this
work retained them all in the genus Circus.
o 31, . „ C notie . . Vol. I. PI. XXIV, ir cu s ajruginosus *
M arsh-H a r r ie r .
3o1, *. C ir cu s jeruginosuDs . . . • r • • ■ .« . . Vol. I. PI. XXV.
M arsh -H a rrier (young).
The draining-operations which have been carried on of late years in various parts of the country have
rendered many of the districts formerly adapted for the well-being of this and many other species no longer
tenable by them; and from the great antipathy to this bird exhibited by every land-owner and game-keeper.
it is now becoming scarce in this country; but in Holland and other low countries of Europe, Africa, India,
and China it still holds its own. The plumage of the yearling and that of the adult birds differ so greatly
that I have been induced to give two plates in illustration of these peculiar phases in their history.
Vol. I. PI. XXVI.
32. C ir cu s c y a n e u s ......................................................................................................
H en -H a r r ier .
Formerly much more numerous than at present, the all-destroying hand of man being directed towards
its extermination ; but it still exists in its usual numbers in Scotland, where, Mr. Robert Gray states, it is
very common “ on all the islands of the Outer Hebrides group, and also throughout the inner islands, Skye,
Mull, Islay, Ju ra, &c„ where it is known by the Gaelic name of Clamhan luci, signifying mouse-hawk,” and
a d d s t h a t h e h a s “ s e e n twelve or fourteen specimens in one day on Benbecula and North Uist, where its
hunting-grounds are o f a similar nature.”
The following note on the nesting of this species, from the pen of the Duke of Argyll, will be found of
interest. Writing to me respecting some nests of two or three species of Falcomda observed by him at
Inverary early in June 1868, bis Grace says:—“ The Harrier's nest is on the face of a steep bank covered
with long heather, and falling into a stream of considerable size. The nest itself is placed on a little bare
shelf or ledge of Sphagmm moss, and with none of the heather bending over or concealing it; but the
nature of the ground is such that it is not visible from the opposite bank of the stream ; and on its own side
the face is so steep that it would not be seen unless one were to come a few feet above i t ; but to birds
flying over, the nest must be a conspicuous object. I t contained six eggs, pure white, but with a slightly
bluish tinge, which, I am told, is deeper when first laid. The nest was composed of dried twigs and stalks
of heather as a foundation, and very nicely lined with straw, composed of dried ‘ sprits ’ .(or a kind of rush)
and one or two bits of dried fern. The straws were nicely laid and bent round so as to take the shape of
the nest. The bulk of the whole was small; but the cup was decided though shallow.
“ The hen rose from the nest when we came nearly opposite to her, about 150 yards off. She was a fine
M