■r 



the sedgy thicket ; the mallards are muddling and splut- 

 tering by the edge of the swamp ; and a single heron 

 stands on a little rocky isle, on a single leg, with in- 

 drawn neck and yellow bill directed forwards. Is there 

 nothing else ? Yes, the merlin skims over the pool ; a 

 sandpiper flies off and is pursued ; the gallinules scram- 

 ble among the reeds, the ducks splash in the water, and 

 the heron lets down his leg, and places himself in an 

 attitude of observation. But the chase is over; the 

 merlin flies off^ with his prey. Had I the " telescopic 

 eye " of a kite I might see him advancing over the 

 Cairn Hill. Here he comes ; we can now see him with- 

 out glasses. You may imagine, good reader, that you 

 hear a shot, that the merlin comes to the ground, that 

 thereupon the curtain falls, the " whaups " on the hill 

 scream, and the company disperses. 



According to M. Temminck, the merlin nestles on 

 trees, or in the fissures of rocks, and lays five or six 

 eggs, of a whitish colour, marbled at one end with 

 greenish-brown. With us, however, its nest is placed 

 on the ground, among the heath, and, according to Mr 

 Selby, contains from three to five eggs. They are very 

 similar to those of the sparrow hawk, being bluish- white, 

 blotched and spotted with deep reddish-brown ; an inch 

 and seven -twelfths in length, with their largest trans- 

 verse diameter an inch and two-twelfths ; their form 

 broadly elliptical. 



Young fledged. — The young birds when fully 

 fledged resemble the adult female, but have the colours 

 paler. The bill and other bare parts are as in the fe- 

 male, the cere duller, and the eyelids of a livid colour 



