FALCONID^. 



351 





THE MERLIN. 

 Falco ytSALON, Tunstall. 



The Merlin, the least of the indigenous British Falcons, has not 

 been proved to breed on the moorlands of Cornwall, Devon, and other 

 counties in the south of England, but from Pembrokeshire north- 

 ward its nest has often been found in many parts of Wales. In and 

 beyond Derbyshire the Merlin is distributed, in suitable localities, 

 up to the Shetlands ; while in Ireland it is tolerably frequent in the 

 mountainous districts, as well as in some of the great red bogs of 

 the central plain (Ussher). In autumn it descends to the low 

 grounds, bays and coasts, where Snipe, Dunlins and other waders, 

 with small birds, generally afford abundant prey ; while during the 

 winter it is generally distributed throughout the British Islands, 

 though the examples then obtained are chiefly immature. 



The Merlin is a resident in the Faeroes, but only a summer- 

 visitor to Iceland ; an example has, however, been taken at sea not 

 far from the coast of Greenland, and one actually at Cape Farewell 



