216 FALCO ^SALON. 



spotless, a single row of the latter on each side having 

 a line of brown on each feather. The lower wing- 

 coverts are brownish-red, spotted with yellowish- white; 

 the long feathers of the leg marked with brown lines, 

 the shorter nearly white, and without markings. 



Length to end of tail 121 inches, to end of wings 11 ; 

 extent of wings 28 ; wing from flexure 9 ; tail 5| ; bill 

 along the back jg, along the edge of lower mandible 

 ig ; tarsus lf| ; first toe ^^y its claw ^^ ; second -^^, its 

 claw \% ; third 1^^, its claw ^-^ ; fourth ^|, its claw /g. 



Variations. — The males vary in colour, the blue of 

 the back being of various tints, in younger individuals 

 tinged with brown, in older purer, and much lighter on 

 the rump. In some birds also, the dark bands on the 

 tail disappear, excepting the last or broader, while in 

 others they disappear from the two middle feathers, but 

 remain more or less apparent on the rest. The lower 

 parts vary from light yellowish-red to deep orange- 

 brown. The females vary less remarkably than the 

 males, to the colouring of which, however, they ulti- 

 mately approximate, in the upper parts at least. The 

 males vary in length from eleven and a half to twelve 

 and a half inches, the females from twelve to thirteen, 

 or a little more. 



Habits In some parts of Scotland the Merlin is 



not very uncommon, and Mr Selby states that he has 

 frequently met with it in the north of England. In 

 the Lothians, it is, next to the kestrel and the sparrow- 

 hawk, perhaps the species that is most frequently seen. 

 In the northern parts of the island it is a constant re- 



