128 THE MERLIN. 



11^ inches to point of wings ; and 29 J inches in extent of wings. 

 The male is only 11 inches to end of tail, and 26 inches in 

 extent of wings. But although the smallest of our falcons, it 

 has all the courage and daring of the peregrine, often killing 

 birds heavier and stronger than itself. It has been known to 

 kill a partridge at one blow. Like the rest of the true falcons it 

 was trained to hunt, and from its courage and activity was a 

 great favourite with the ladies. In " Much Ado about Nothing," 

 Beatrice, in her answer to Margaret, couples her hawk with her 

 horse or a husband — 



Beat. " By my troth, I am exceeding ill, — hey ho ! 

 Marg. For a hawk, a horse, or a husband ? 

 Beat. For the letter that begins them all, H." 



And in the same comedy Hero says, alluding also to Beatrice — 



" No, truly, Ursula, she is too disdainful ; 

 I know her spirits are as coy and wild 

 As haggards of the ro k. " 



It was flown at partridges, quails, woodcocks, snipes, larks, 

 &c. In searching for prey it glides over the hedges and fields, 

 like the sparrow-hawk, for which it is often mistaken. The 

 rapidity of its evolutions and certainty of aim in selecting its 

 victim from the very centre of a flock of small birds is remark- 

 able. It seldom fails in clutching its prey. There is a great 

 difference in size of the male and female — some males. being not 

 much bigger than a blackbird. Like the rest of its tribe the 

 bill curves from the base, and has the characteristic tooth or 

 lobe in the upper mandible ; it is pale blue at the base and 

 black at the tip ; the cere and round the eyes greenish yellow ; 

 the irides dark brown ; the legs and toes orange yellow ; claws 

 black. The general colour of the back and wing coverts of the 

 male is deep greyish blue ; the forehead and cheeks greyish 

 white, margined with black lines ; on the back of the neck there 

 is a collar of pale red, with small black spots. The tail is light 

 bluish grey — the outer feathers with eight, the middle with six 

 black bars. The throat is white, the lower parts also white, 

 tinged with yellowish red. The under side of the quills and 

 tail are beautifully barred with dark grey and greyish white. 

 The general colour of the female is deep brown, tinged with 

 blue. The markings on the head and cheeks like the male, but 

 larger. The young, as usual with birds, resemble the female, 

 but have the upper parts spotted with red. It is easily known 

 from the sparrow-hawk by the shortness of its tarsi. 



