FALCONID^. 



J4I 





THE MERLIN. 

 Falco .ksalon, Tunstall. 



The Merlin, the least of the British Falcons, breeds annually on 

 our moorlands ; and though these are few and restricted in the 

 south, there can be little doubt that a few pairs nest on Exmoor, 

 while in many parts of Wales its nest has often been found. 

 Beyond Derbyshire it is generally distributed, in suitable localities, 

 up to the Shetlands, where it is common ; and in Ireland it is 

 tolerably frequent in the mountainous districts. In autumn it 

 descends to the low grounds, bays and coasts, where Snipe, Dunlins 

 and other waders, with small birds, form an abundant prey ; while 

 during the winter it is generally distributed throughout the British 

 Islands, but the examples then obtained are chiefly immature. 



The Merlin is a resident in the Faroes, but only a summer- 

 visitor to Iceland ; yet an example has been taken at sea not far 

 from the coast of Greenland, and one actually at Cape Farewell, in 

 May 1875. In North America it is represented by /'■: columbariiis, 

 with fewer bars on the tail — a figure of which appears to have been 



