352 



MERLIN. 



in May 1875. In North America it is represented by F. colutnlmrius, 

 with fewer bars on the tail. In Scandinavia the Merhn is common 

 in the northern districts from April to October, and it has been 

 observed as far as Yugor Strait, 69° N. lat. ; while southward it nests 

 in Central Russia, on the high ground of Germany, in the Alpine dis- 

 tricts of Central Europe, and in the Pyrenees. It is the commonest 

 of the ' passage-hawks ' on Heligoland, and elsewhere it is well known 

 on migration ; the proportion of adults to immature birds being 

 unusually great in the basin of the Mediterranean. During the 

 cold season it inhabits North Africa and abounds in Egypt, its 

 migrations extending to Nubia and Sennaar. Eastward, it frequents 

 the northern portions of Asia as far as Ussuria in summer, wintering 

 in Northern India and China. 



In the British Islands the nesting-place is usually a mere hollow 

 scratched in the moorland ground, often on the side of a bank, and 

 it is but seldom that even a few twigs of heather are found as a border. 

 In the Faeroes, Norway, and also in the Pyrenees, ledges of precipitous 

 cliffs are resorted to ; while in Scandinavia (frequently), in Scotland 

 (occasionally), and perhaps in England oftener than is supposed, an 

 old nest of some other species, built in a tree, is utilized. In the 

 Museum at Oxford may be seen a hen bird with her eggs and the 

 old nest of a Heron or a Crow in which these were deposited, from 

 a cliff near Milford Haven. The 4-6 eggs, laid in May, are deep 

 reddish-brown or purplish-red, without gloss : measurements i'5 by 



I "2 in. The Merlin preys chiefly on Dunlins, Meadow-Pipits, 

 Thrushes, Larks, &:c. ; while it has been seen in pursuit of a 

 Swallow, whose rapid evolutions it followed as if moved by the same 

 impulse. By falconers it was, and still is, used for flying at Larks ; 

 in swiftness, however, it does not approach the Hobby, or even the 

 wild Peregrine. Owing to its habit of perching on rocks, it is 

 known in some parts as the ' Stone Falcon.' 



Adult male: crown and mantle slate-colour, and nape rufous, with 

 black shaft-streaks ; throat white, and under parts bufifish, striped with 

 dark brown ; tail bluish-grey, broadly banded with black near the 

 end and tipped with white; cere, legs and feet yellow. Length 



II in. ; wing 7-8 in. Female: upper parts dark liver-brown; tail- 

 feathers brown, crossed with five narrow paler bands and tipped 

 with white ; nape, cheeks and under parts dull white, streaked with 

 brown. Length 12-5 in. ; wing 8-6 in. Old females sometimes 

 attain the male plumage. The young resemble the female, but are 

 more rufous in tint. 



