31 



MEELIN. 



PLATE XVI. 



Falco cesalon, PENNANT. MONTAGU. 



" " BEWICK. FLEMING. 



THE female Merlin sits close at first, but if disturbed or alarmed 

 more than once, becomes extremely shy. The male takes up a position 

 near at hand, on the top of some eminence, from whence he can per- 

 ceive the approach of any intruder, of which he gives notice by 

 shrill cries of alarm. 



The nest is generally, in this country at least, built on the ground, 

 on open moors or heaths; frequently on the side of a ravine, in a tuft 

 of heath, or projection of a rock or bank; and when this is the case, 

 is composed of very scanty materials a few sticks, with heather, 

 grass, or moss the bare ground almost sufficing for the purpose. In 

 other countries it appears, occasionally at all events, to be built in 

 trees, and is then made of sticks, and lined with wool. In the 

 Orkney and Shetland Islands it is placed among precipitous and 

 inaccessible rocks. Montagu says that an instance has been known of 

 a Merlin building in a deserted Crow's nest; and I have no doubt 

 that such occurrences are by no means rare. 



The eggs are three, four, or five in number; Bewick says six, and 

 Temminck five or six. They are bluish white, blotted, particularly at 

 the thicker end, with deep reddish brown, or greenish brown: they 

 vary, however, much in colour. Some of the varieties are often 

 similar to those of the Kestrel or Peregrine, others to those of the 

 Sparrow-Hawk, but still more to those of the Hobby. They are 

 perhaps rather smaller than the former, and also, in this variety, 

 browner in colour, and more closely spotted with small dots. One 

 has been known of a rich crimson red, blotted with a darker shade 

 of the same. 



