1 1 o BRITISH BIRDS 



Practically, the Kite is extinct in this country, where 

 there is but very slender chance of its ever being do- 

 mesticated again, for when one visits these inhospitable shores 

 during the annual migration it is immediately "potted." 



The Merlin. 



A bird which is pretty well universally dispersed, and 

 occurs in this country for the most part as an occasional 

 winter visitor. It feeds almost entirely on birds, and will 

 kill those that are double its own size as quickly as it 

 will the smaller ones. 



In length the male Merlin measures about 12 inches 

 and it weighs 5 or 6 ounces, while the female turns the 

 scale .at 9 ounces and is 13 or 14 inches long. 



It is dark grey above, and reddish-fawn on the under 

 surface with dark streaks on the breast, belly and thighs; 

 the tail is dark blue-grey, with black tips and three bands 

 or bars of black across it. 



The nest is made on the ground, as a rule, under some 

 slight cover, and consists merely of a shallow depression 

 in the soil, into which a few straws or heather sprays 

 are scratched. The eggs are three or four in number, but 

 sometimes only two; they are very round in form, of a 

 reddish-brown, thickly marked with many small and a 

 few larger spots of a darker shade of the same colour. 



The Peregrine Falcon. See page 104. 



The Sparrow-Hawk. 



This bird furnishes a notable proof of the mischievous 

 consequences of interfering to destroy the balance of nature, 

 for he too has been pretty well exterminated from our 

 midst, and the Sparrows have multiplied in many places 

 to such an extent as to have become a veritable nuisance. 



The Sparrow-Hawk is pretty and bold-looking, with an 

 upright carriage and fearless, dauntless expression that 

 commends it at once to notice, notwithstanding its small 

 size and slender form; the male only weighing 5 or 6 

 ounces, and the female about 9 ounces ; she measures 



