THE BLACK MERLIN, 303 



ington (Fort Walla Walla), in both of which localities T obtained specimens, 

 but am not aware that its eggs have ever been taken. I am (piite positive, 

 however, that an occasional pair breeds in the vicinity of Fort Klainatli. On 

 May 9, 1883, while en route fn^m this post to Linkville, Oregon, I observed 

 a pair of these birds in the lai'ge open pine forest al)out midway between 

 the two points. I had halted my party to let the horses gi'aze, and, while 

 resting, my attention was attracted to the male, by its incessant screaming 

 in the trees overhead; this also brought the female around, and she was 

 equally as noisy. It w;is clear that they had a nest in tlie vicinity, either in 

 the tall pines or in a cliff about 400 yards distant, but a careful search insti- 

 tuted by the members of my party and myself failed to reveal it. Both 

 birds were rather sliy, but I finally succeeded in killing the male, a very 

 handsome adult specimen. Tliis is now in Mr. Slanly Hardy's collection at 

 Brewer, Maine, to whom I presented it. Where I observed Suckley's Mer- 

 lin, it was much rarer than Falco colamharius at any time. At Fort Walla 

 Walla, Washington, I ol)tained both subspecies as well as Richardson's Merlin; 

 all of the specimens taken here, however, were shot during the migration, 

 or in winter. It is probably common enough along the coast of Oregon, 

 Washington, and British Columbia, and the mode of nidification as well as 

 the eggs are not likely to difier from those of the preceding subspecies. 



102. Falco richardsonii Ridgway. 

 Richardson's merlin. 



Falco (Hypotriorchis) richardsonii Ridgway, Proceedings Academy Natural Sci- 

 ences, Philadelphia, December, 1870, 1-15. 

 (B — , C 345, R 418, C 507, U 358.) 



Geographical range : Interior and western plains of North America, from the 

 Mississippi River to the Pacific coast ; north to Saskatchewan, British America, south 

 in winter to Texas and Arizona (and probably into Mexico). 



Richardson's Merlin, a slightly larger and paler colored bird than the 

 Pigeon Hawk and resembling very much the common European Merlin 

 (Falco regulus), with which it was confounded by some of our earlier orni- 

 thologists, is another species about which little is known respecting its eggs, 

 nests, and breeding range. 



From an examination of the series of skins of the subgenus jEsalon in 

 the U. S. National Museum collection, it plainly appears that the northern 

 range of Richardson's Merlin is not nearly so extended as that of the com- 

 mon Pigeon Hawk. Among the numerous specimens received through the 

 exertions of some of the gentlemen of the Hudson Bay Company from the 

 Great Slave Lake, the Mackenzie and Anderson river region, there is not 

 a single one referable to this species, and it is doubtful if it reaches a 

 higher latitude than 55° in the interior, though on the Pacific coast it may 

 possibly be found somewhat farther northward during the breeding season. 



