Mr. MacCulloch writes me word that a Marsh Harrier was killed in Herm in May, 1875.  It may be just possible, however, that this is the same bird recorded by Miss C.B.  Carey, and that Mr. MacCulloch only heard of it in the May of the following year, and noted it accordingly.  This, however, is mere supposition on my part, for which I have no reason except that both birds were said to have been killed in Herm, and both in May.

Professor Ansted mentions the Marsh Harrier in his list, but marks it as only found in Guernsey.

12.  HEN HARRIER. Circus cyaneus, Linnaeus.  French, “Busard St. Martin."[6]—­The Hen Harrier, perhaps, occurs rather more frequently than the Marsh Harrier, but it can only be considered a rare occasional visitant.  In June, 1876, I saw one young Hen Harrier, which had been shot in Herm in the April of that year, about the same time as the Iceland Falcon, and by the same keeper, who had brought it to Mr. Couch to stuff.  Another was shot in Herm on the 19th of June, 1877.  This bird is now in Mr. Maxwell’s collection, where I saw it on the 27th of June.  It was first reported to me by Mr. Jago, the bird-stuffer in Guernsey.

These are the only two Channel Island specimens of the Hen Harrier which I have been able to find.  I have never shot it myself or seen it alive.  It is, however, included in Professor Ansted’s list, but marked as occurring in Guernsey only.

[13.  Omitted.]

14.  MONTAGU’S HARRIER. Circus cineraceus, Montagu.  French, “Busard Montagu,” “Busard cendre.”—­Montagu’s Harrier is certainly a more frequent visitant to the Islands than either the Hen Harrier or the Marsh Harrier.  Miss C.B.  Carey records one in the ‘Zoologist’ for 1873 as having been shot in Alderney in July of that year.  She adds that it was an adult male in full plumage, and that she saw it herself at Mr. Couch’s shop.  In the ‘Zoologist’ for 1874 she records another Montagu’s Harrier—­a young one—­shot in Herm in July of that year.  She adds that—­“It was brought to Mr. Couch to skin.  He found a whole Lark’s egg, and also the shell of another, in its throat.  He showed me how the whole egg was sticking in the empty shell of the broken one.”

All the Harriers seem to have a special liking for eggs.  In his notice of the Marsh Harrier Professor Newton says, in his edition of Yarrell,’ that birds’ eggs are an irresistible delicacy; and, in speaking of the food of the present species, he says it consists chiefly of grasshoppers, reptiles, small mammals, birds and their eggs; these last, if their size permit, being often swallowed whole, as was the case in the instance mentioned by Miss Carey.  Mr. Howard Saunders also says he can bear witness to the egg-eating propensities of the Harriers.

Besides the two recorded by Miss C.B.  Carey, I saw one—­a young bird—­in Mr. Maxwell’s collection, which had been killed at Herm, and another—­a young male—­at Mr. Jago’s, the bird-stuffer, which had also been killed at Herm.  There were also two young birds in the bird-stuffer and carpenter’s shop at Alderney, both of which had been killed in that Island shortly before my last visit, June, 1878.