M A R S H - H A R R I E R .
birds being attacked. Tin1 Buzzard, as (his species is always styled hy the natives, appears to be perpetually
sailing over the rush-marshes and reed-beds in (be neighliourhood of tile broads. I have noticed one pitch,
as ir on prey, nt least half n dozen times while hunting over a single marsh; hut on subsequently examining
each spot, the bearings of which were carefully marked, I could discover no signs of any bird or small animal
having bean destroyed; the prey, if any was raptured, must in every ease have l>ecn entirely consumed.
I have frequently seen the greatest excitement displayed by Peewits and Redshanks while the Harrier was
heating over the marshes in which (heir young wore concealed. At times, after hovering for a second or two,
the robber would descend into the cover; and 1 have little doubt that the unfledged young would prove an
acceptable and easily procured meal. Snakes, frogs, and mice, and even such small game as dragonflies, are,
I conclude from the remains I have come across, included in their bill of fare. Dead or disabled birds, if
Incapable of flight, form most probably the chief portion of their diet. I discovered the toe of a Hawk 1
believe to have belonged to this species in a trap I set baited with a Coot; the teeth had unfortunately proved
too sharp, but a feather or two adhering to the mud left little doubt as to the identity of the escaped bud,
I can state nothing on my own authority with reference to the nesting of this species. Those I observed
on Wieken fen were evidently, from their actions, breeding Somewhere close at band. Among the broads in
Norfolk I have been informed that nests have licen found during the last few years; but the descriptions of (he
birds given by my various iuformauis were so conflicting (bat it was impossible to pbiee any reliance on their
reports.
The eastern counties during the mouths of September and October 1 SSI were visited by several wanderers
of this species, as well as numbers of Buzzards. One or two young birds that I examined fresh-killed by the
gunners of the district wine particularly rich in their colouring, the feathers on the head bcimr remarkably
tawny. I have noticed a lew at times, during rammer and the early mouths of autumn, so worn and ragged
in their plumage as to give the impression that some of the sttitled monsl rosities one observes in the windows of
Bifond-rate taxidermists or on the shelves of museums had suddenly been restored to life and allowed to return
to their furmer haunts