MONTAGU'S HARRIER
CIRCUS CINERÁCEUS
Wings a little longer than the tail; third primary longer than the fourth and second; upper plumage bluish grey; primaries black, secondaries with three transverse dark bars; lateral tail-feathers white barred with reddish orange; under plumage white, variously streaked with reddish orange. Female—upper plumage brown of various tints; under, pale reddish yellow, with longitudinal bright red streaks. Beak black; cere deep yellow; irides hazel; feet yellow; claws black. Length seventeen inches. Eggs bluish white.
This bird, which is of rare occurrence in Britain, resembles the Hen Harrier very closely, both in appearance and habits, although it is smaller and more slender, and the wings are longer in proportion. On the Continent, especially in Holland, it is more frequent. It received its name in honour of Colonel Montagu, who was the first to ascertain the identity of the Hen Harrier and Ringtail, and to separate the present species from both.
COMMON BUZZARD
BUTEO VULGARIS
Upper plumage, neck and head, dark brown; lower, greyish brown, mottled with darker brown; tail marked with twelve dark transverse bands; beak lead-coloured; cere, iris, and feet yellow. Length twenty to twenty-two inches. Eggs white, variously marked with pale greenish brown.
The Buzzard, though ranked very properly among birds belonging to the Falcon tribe, is deficient in the graceful activity which characterizes the true Falcons. In sluggishness of habits it approaches the Vultures, and in its soft plumage and mode of flight the Owls; but differs from the former in feeding on live prey as well as carrion, and from the latter in its diurnal habits. In form indeed it resembles neither, being a bulky broad-winged Hawk, with stout legs and a short much-curved beak. It can fly swiftly enough when occasion requires, but its favourite custom is to take its station on some withered branch, or on the projecting corner of a rock, whence it can both obtain a good view of the surrounding country, and, when it has digested its last meal, sally forth in quest of a new one as soon as a victim comes within its range of observation. It pounces on this while on the ground, and pursues its chase with a low skimming flight, keeping a sharp look-out for moles, young hares and rabbits, mice, reptiles, small birds and insects. At times it rises high into the air, and, soaring in circles, examines the surface of the ground for carrion. It has neither the spirit nor daring of the noble Falcons, submitting patiently to the attacks of birds much less than itself, and flying from the Magpie or Jackdaw. As an architect the Buzzard displays no more constructive skill than other birds of its tribe, building its nest of a few sticks, either on a rock or in a tree, and not unfrequently occupying the deserted nest of some other bird. It has, however, a redeeming point, being a most assiduous nurse. The female sits close, and will allow the near approach of an intruder before she leaves her eggs. In captivity, strange to say, though by nature having a strong inclination for the flesh of chickens, she has been known to sit on the eggs of the domestic hen, to hatch a brood, and to rear them with as much solicitude as their natural mother could have shown, distributing to them morsels of raw meat, not comprehending, of course, their repugnance to such fare, and bearing with extreme patience and good humour their unaccountable preference for barley and crumbs of bread. The male bird is scarcely less affectionate as a parent: an instance being recorded of one, which, on the death of his partner, completed the period of incubation and reared the young brood by himself. The Buzzard rarely molests game, and more than compensates for the mischief it does work, by the destruction of undoubted vermin; yet the hostility shown by gamekeepers against all birds except those which it is their business to protect, has so thinned its numbers that the Buzzard, though once common, is now become rare.
THE HONEY BUZZARD
PERNIS APIVORUS