THE MERLIN 269 



south-western shires from Wiltshire and Hamp- 

 shire on the Merlin's true breeding-home is amidst 

 the heather-robed moorlands and misty fells and 

 mountain-sides of England north of about latitude 

 53 (though it does nest here and there in 

 Monmouth, Hereford and Shropshire), the bird 

 being particularly well represented in parts of York- 

 shire and the ' ' Lakes " ; as well as and of course 

 amongst those of Scotland, though in many dis- 

 tricts there it has been rendered very rare, and even 

 well-nigh extinct, through the unhappy medium of 

 keepers, because of its fancied depredations amongst 

 Grouse. The Merlin is a much maligned bird. It 

 occurs, too, in most of the Hebrides, and is quite 

 common in the Orkneys and Shetlands. In Ireland 

 it is tolerably to the fore, there frequenting not only 

 and as you would expect many of the mountain 

 ranges, but also some of the big, low-lying bogs 

 and plains. After all, elevated moorlands are not 

 by any means a necessity to a breeding Merlin. In 

 Cambria, except perhaps for Anglesey, it is on the 

 whole an uncommon nester, especially in the 

 southern half. 



From early spring to late autumn the Merlin 

 may truly be termed the presiding spirit of the 

 moors. There it is a menace to any small birds 

 affecting the same haunts. Meadow-Pipits, Sky- 

 Larks, Twites, Wheatears, and Ring-Ouzels and 

 particularly the first two sorts (this no doubt being 

 why on ' ' Merlin moorlands ' these two species 



