14. MONTAGU'S HARRIER. _Circus cineraceus_, Montagu. French, "Busard
Montagu," "Busard cendré."--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.

As mistakes may occasionally arise in identifying specimens, especially