FALCONS 1 1 



has noted that, in 1885, a pair took possession of a 

 deserted nest in a tree at Loch Gruagach, Assynt, 

 and were taken by Mr. Tennent and the keeper 

 ("Fauna of Sutherland," p. 176). Mr. Aplin also, 

 in Norway, found a pair of Merlins occupying an 

 old nest in a birch-tree some thirty feet from the 

 ground (Zool, 1896, p. 452). 



The adult male Merlin weighs from 5 to 6 oz., 

 the female 7 oz. Its prey consists of Meadow Pipits, 

 Linnets, Twites, Stonechats, and other small moor- 

 land birds, and occasionally Snipe ; but not, as some 

 gamekeepers assert, Grouse, which are too strong 

 and heavy to be captured, being four times the 

 weight of a Merlin. Grouse chicks, however, are 

 no doubt occasionally carried off when straying from 

 the protection of the hen. 



KESTREL. Falco tinnunculus, Linnseus. PI. 2, figs. 7, 8. 

 Length, 12-5 in. ; wing, 9 in.; tarsus, P5 in. 



Resident, migrating to the east and south-east in 

 autumn. Common on the hill-farms in the south of 

 Scotland, where it preys much on the short-tailed 

 Field Vole {Arvicola agrestris). See the "Report 

 of the Committee appointed by the Board of Agri- 

 culture to inquire into a plague of the Field Voles 

 in Scotland," 1893. 



Kestrels occasionally nest in hollow trees, as at 

 Bromley, in Kent, in 1876, when six eggs were 

 found in one nest, the usual number being five 

 (Field, June 3, 1876). They have also been known 

 to build in wheat-stacks (Field, June 5, 1875, and 



