MERLIN. 4] 
with darker brown; tail-feathers brown, barred with rufous-brown and 
tipped with creamy white; the underparts whitish, broadly striped with 
- dark brown, becoming almost pure white on the throat. 
The Merlin has several near allies. On the American continent it is 
represented by a species divisible into three races, which Mr. Ridgeway 
treats as only varieties of the European species—F. columbarius, F. richard- 
soni, and F. suckleyz. ‘These races breed in the northern portion of the 
American continent, in the Atlantic region, the region of the plains, and 
the region of the north-west coast respectively. They are all browner and 
darker than our bird, and have the black spots on the tail developed into 
transverse bars, which in F. suckleyi are almost confluent. In the Old 
World there are two tropical forms of the Merlin, which, however, appear 
to have become well-defined species, F. chicquera inhabiting India, and 
F. ruficollis Airica. They may at once be distinguished from the Merlin 
by having the entire head and neck chestnut. They are, however, so nearly 
allied to each other that by some ornithologists they are considered one 
species ; the African race is said to be paler, and to have the bars on the 
breast closer together. 
