Identifier: royalnaturalhist47lyde (find matches)
Title: The royal natural history
Year: 1893 (1890s)
Authors: Lydekker, Richard, 1849-1915 Sclater, Philip Lutley, 1829-1913 Frostick, W. B., former owner. DSI Brooks, W. T., former owner. DSI
Subjects: Zoology Natural history
Publisher: London and New York : Frederick Warne & Co.
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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plementing this diet largely with frogs and fish, while otherseat grasshoppers and other large insects. The nest is usually placed on theground; and in the European species at least the eggs (three or four in number)are nearly uniform pale bluish or yellowish green. In addition to their facial discsand crepuscular habits, the harriers show another resemblance to the owls in theirhabit of laying their eggs at intervals, so that both eggs and nestlings may betaken from the same nest. In hunting, harriers frequently beat and quarter theirground almost with the regularity of a spaniel. Our remarks on the variousspecies will be mainly confined to those inhabiting the British Islands. Sodifferent in appearance are the males and females of the hen-harrier (Circuscyaneus) that they were long regarded as distinct, — the female being termedthe ringtail,—and it was not till Montagu brought up a brood from the nestthat their specific unity was established. In the adult male the general colour
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GROUP OF HARRIERS.1, Hen-IIarrier ; 2, Mouta£;us Harrier; 3, Pale-Chested Harrier. HARRIERS. 245 of the plumage is bluish grey above, with the throat and chest nearly similar;while the rest of the under-parts, inclusive of the thighs as well as the uppertail-coverts, are pure white. On the upper surface of the tail the two middlepairs of feathers are uniform grey, and the others more or less indistinctly^barred. On the other hand, in the female, or ringtail, as shown in the left lowerfigure of our Plate, the prevailing hue of the upper-parts is brown, and the head issurrounded by a distinct ruff of mingled white and brown feathers; many of thefeathers, especially the wing-coverts, having lighter margins, Below, the ground-colour is reddish buff, each feather having a larger or smaller dark brown centralmark, and a still darker shaft. The tail is greyish brown, tipped with white, andall the feathers banded with darker brown. In both sexes the legs and toes areyellow, with black claws;

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