342 MERLIN. 



given, in error, for that of the Old World species in Yarrell's 

 ' British Birds.' In Scandinavia, where it arrives in April, the 

 Merlin is common in the northern districts until October ; and in 

 Russia it has been found as far as Novaya Zemlya, though in the 

 Ural Mountains it is not known to breed north of lat. 57°. It 

 nests in Central Russia, the higher regions of Germany, the Alpine 

 districts of Central Europe, and the Pyrenees ; but elsewhere it is 

 only known on passage, and in winter ; the proportion of adults to 

 immature birds being unusually great in the basin of the Mediter- 

 ranean, from Spain to Greece, During the cold season it inhabits 

 North Africa and abounds in Egypt, its migrations extending to 

 Nubia and Sennaar. Eastward, it frequents the northern portions 

 of Asia in summer, wintering in Northern India and Southern 

 China. 



In the British Islands the nesting-place is usually a mere hollow 

 scratched in the moorland, often in the side of a bank, and it is but 

 seldom that even a few twigs of heather are found as a border. 

 In the Fteroes, and also in the Pyrenees, ledges of precipitous 

 cliffs are resorted to ; while in Scandinavia frequently, and in 

 Scotland occasionally, an old nest of some other species, built in 

 a tree, is utilized. The eggs, laid in May, are 4-6 in number ; 

 their usual colour is deep reddish-brown or purplish-red, without 

 gloss : average measurements 1*5 by.i"2 in. Mr. Booth says that he 

 has never known the Merlin take unfledged birds of any kind, 

 and although it has been asserted that its brood is fed with young 

 Grouse, its chief prey consists of Dunlins, Meadow-Pipits, Thrushes, 

 Larks &c. It has been seen in pursuit of a Swallow, whose rapid 

 evolutions it followed as if moved by the same impulse ; while by 

 falconers it was, and still is, used for flying at Larks ; in swiftness, 

 however, it does not approach the Hobby, or even the wild 

 Peregrine. Owing to its habit of perching on rocks, it is known 

 in some parts as the ' Stone Falcon.' 



Adult male : crown and upper parts slate-blue, with black shaft- 

 streaks ; throat white ; nape and under parts rufous, striped with 

 dark brown ; tail bluish-grey, broadly banded with black near the 

 end and tipped with white ; cere, legs and feet yellow. Length 

 10 in. ; wing 7-5 in. Female: upper parts dark liver-brown; tail- 

 feathers brown, crossed with five narrow paler bands and tipped 

 with white ; nape, cheeks and under parts dull white, streaked with 

 brown. Length 12 in. ; wing 8 '5 in. Old females sometimes attain 

 the male plumage. The young resemble the female, but are more 

 rufous in tint. 



