MERLIN 91 



HABITS 



In Iceland the merlin is a summer resident, arriving about the end 

 of March or the beginning of April, but in the Faeroes and the British 

 Isles it is mainly a resident, although many, probably including most 

 of the birds of the year, move southward in autumn and may be met 

 with in districts where the species is never known to breed. 



It is a bold and dashing little falcon and has no hesitation in attack- 

 ing birds larger than itself, such as the golden plover and lapwing, but 

 its normal prey consists of small birds, such as the meadow pipit 

 (Anthus pratensis) and the other small passerine birds that are to be 

 found on the outskirts of the moorlands. In Iceland there is little 

 cultivation, and here the merlin is by far the commonest raptorial 

 bird, though nowhere numerous. In this treeless land of lava fields 

 and moors one comes occasionally on a pair that has selected a breed- 

 ing site, generally on some rocky outcrop or cliff, but at times also 

 among the scanty heather on the ground. In the Shetlands and Ork- 

 neys it is also the commonest of the Accipiters and may be met with 

 almost anywhere, not only on the tops of the hills, but also, as Saxby 

 (1874) has well described, in the marshes and on the cliffs or by the 

 shore, while it includes in its hunting grounds the roofs and chimneys 

 of the villages and may dart down upon a sparrow or a twite even 

 at the very door of a house. 



Farther south, on the mainland of Scotland and the moors of north- 

 ern England, its home during the summer months is on the hills, 

 where it may be seen perched on a rock or swiftly flying over the 

 rough pastures and heaths, beating the countryside with untiring zeal 

 until some luckless small bird is flushed and flown down. Here its 

 nest is usually to be found in or near the same spot year after year. 

 Seebohm (1883) gives details of two sites on the Yorkshire moors for 

 five years. During this period, on several occasions, both male and 

 female were shot by keepers at the nest, and the young or eggs de- 

 stroyed. Yet the next year, or sometimes after an interval of a year, 

 another pair of birds appeared and recolonized the old site. To any- 

 one living on a grouse moor in northern England, it seems almost in- 

 credible that the stock can be kept up, for the breeding places are 

 known by tradition to the keepers and it is only occasionally that a 

 pair manages to bring off a brood from some remote part of the moor. 

 Where the birds came from to replenish the vacant sites was long a 

 mystery, for though the merlin does little real harm on a grouse moor, 

 no keeper will ever allow this beautiful little falcon to hatch off, if he 

 can possibly prevent it with the help of a trap or a cartridge or two. 

 Fortunately for ornithology, there are, however, large tracts of hills, 

 covered chiefly with rough pasture and a little heather and bracken, 

 which are practically valueless as far as grouse are concerned and so 

 do not come under the keeper's jurisdiction. Often these hills are on 



