THE BLACK MERLIN: 537, 
caught on the wing, sometimes by a direct swoop, and at others by the falcon 
trick of turning breast upwards. A thrilling illustration of this last named 
habit came to my notice when half a dozen Tree Swallows were teasing one 
of these Merlins as he was passing over a large marsh. This passage at arms 
took place at a considerable height from the ground and formed a most vivid 
picture. The Swallows carefully kept above the Hawk so that he could not 
pounce upon them, and occasionally one, bolder than the rest, would dive 
down and peck him on the back; but the larger bird seemed to pay no atten- 
tion whatever. Of a sudden—and it was almost as much of a surprise to me 
as it must have been to the Swallow—the apparently listless Hawk met one of 
these attacks by turning gracefully breast uppermost. He literally turned a 
half-somerset in midair, and so accurately was the movement timed that the 
over-confident Swallow flew directly into the outstretched talons of his 
enemy. 
Occasionally grasshoppers and large dragon-flies are caught and eaten, 
always when flying, and seemingly more for sport than for the desire for 
food. In this connection I may express my belief that they often take pleas- 
ure in the chase when not intending to kill, for I have seen one repeatedly 
dash thru a large flock of terrified Sandpipers without apparently attempting 
to catch any of them. 
When not too heavy the prey is taken to the topmost limb of some large 
tree, where the hawk always turns and faces in the direction from which he 
came. This last curious trait is undoubtedly due to precaution, but I have 
always been at a loss to know what it fears. "Toward mankind it shows little 
or no timidity, and I have repeatedly discharged my gun while one of these 
hawks was hunting within thirty yards of me, without appearing to frighten 
him in the least. 
The flight, like that of all the falcons, is direct and businesslike, and 
consists of an almost continual flapping of the wings, very seldom sailing for 
any distance, and never soaring about in circles, as is the habit with all other 
members of the hawk family, save the falcons. 
So far as known no positively identified eggs of the Black Merlin have 
ever been taken, and only two nests have been reported to me, both of which 
were in inaccessible cavities high up in decayed trees. One of these that I 
personally visited in June was placed in a lone cottonwood tree in the valley of 
the Puyallup River, and contained young that were learning to fly. The 
young paid no attention whatever to me, but the parents sat overhead looking 
down at me and uttering plaintive whimperings, altho seemingly pretty well 
assured that I could not reach them. The note sounded not unlike the kik- 
kik-kik call of the Flicker, only very much more subdued, and is the only 
sound I have ever known this bird to make at any time. 
J. H. Bow tes. 
