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MERLIN. 
Falco esalon, PENNANT, Montacu. Bewick. FLEMING. 
Falco—To cut with a bill or hook. LEsalon—A species of Hawk, 
(Aristotle,) supposed to be the Merlin, or the Sparrow-Hawk. 
THoucH an Eagle, by comparison with some of the East 
Indian species of Hawks, the Merlin is the smallest that 
occurs in this country. In spirit it is ‘nulli secundus,’ inferior 
to none, and was accordingly used in former times in falconry 
for the pursuit of birds even much larger than itself, which 
it would frequently kill by a single blow on the head, neck, 
or breast. The author of the ‘Book of Falconrie’ says that 
they were ‘passing good Hawks, and very skilful.’ Unlike 
the Sparrow-Hawk and the Kestrel, if pursued by swallows 
and other small birds, it has been known, instead of flying 
from them, to become in its turn the aggressor, and at once 
disperse them. Like the Hobby, it has been captured by its 
dashing through a pane in the window of a cottage, in 
pursuit of a yellow-hammer. 
This species appears to claim citizenship in all the four 
quarters of the globe. In Europe it is known in Denmark, 
Norway, Sweden, Germany, and France; in North America, 
in Asia Minor, and in Africa as far south as the Cape of 
Good Hope. It is more frequently met with in the northern, 
than in the southern parts of England, though in neither 
can it be said to be common. The former are its breeding 
districts. In Yorkshire, it has very frequently occurred, 
especially in the West-Riding: occasionally in Derbyshire. 
In Sussex, it has been repeatedly noticed in the wilder and 
less cultivated districts. In Berkshire, I once myself shot 
one, now many years ago. It was a beautiful female, flying 
up a brook down by which I was walking—an unfortuna e 
‘rencontre’ for it—and fell, apparently quite dead, as indeed it 
proved to have been; but so remarkable was the similarity 
