MERLIN 95 



kek-kek-kek, not unlike that of the kestrel. In the cases that came 

 under Rowan's observation, the note of the cock was higher pitched 

 than that of the hen, and readily recognizable. The feeding note of 

 the male closely resembles the alarm note but is repeated only half 

 a dozen times and more rapidly than when alarmed. The hen 

 responds to this with her feeding note, a characteristic, long-drawn 

 and oft-repeated eep-eep-eep, which she keeps up for some minutes 

 continuously. Rowan also records a soft tick, uttered when alighting 

 at the nest, by both sexes. The hunger call of the young somewhat 

 resembles the food cry of the hen, but it is not so loud and is repeated 

 more quickly. 



Enemies. — The one real enemy of the merlin is the keeper, but with 

 little reason, for the grouse live on good terms with it, and it is only 

 for a very brief period in the season that the chicks are ever taken. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Breeding range. — Falco aesalon subae salon breeds in Iceland, an 

 intermediate form in the Faeroes, and the typical race in the British 

 Isles (Scotland and its islands, northern and southwestern England, 

 Wales, and Ireland), Norway, Sweden, Finland, northern and 

 middle Russia, and western Siberia. Other races breed in southeast- 

 ern Russia (F. a. pallidus), and in Asia, from Turkestan to Japan 

 (F. a. insignis). 



Winter range. — Faeroes and British Isles, migrating from northern 

 Europe through middle Europe to the Mediterranean region, wintering 

 commonly in northwestern Africa (F. a. aesalon) and in Egypt (F. a. 

 insignis). Asiatic birds winter south to Turkestan and northwestern 

 India. 



Migration. — The Iceland bird has recently been proved to visit the 

 British Isles, a banded bird having been obtained in Kings County, 

 Ireland. The four, or perhaps five, American records have already 

 been mentioned. A juvenile bird has also been recorded as far south 

 in Africa as Natal (Ibis, 1920, p. 508). In the Arctic region it has been 

 recorded as a casual off Bear Island, and it is a common passage 

 migrant in Novaya Zemlya, where it may possibly breed. 



Egg dates. — Of 34 dates from the British Isles, ten fall between 

 May 9 and 15, seven between May 16 and 22, and eleven between 

 May 23 and 29; of June dates (first to twenty-first) there are six, 

 but one on June 6 was much incubated, and one on the twelfth a 

 second laying, while that on the twenty-first was probably also a 

 second laying. Four Iceland dates fall between May 20 and June 

 12, while seven dates from Finland fall between May 30 and June 25. 



