282 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



from quite a long distance. Sometimes a Merlin 

 will deliberately dash far down dale to deliver a 

 furious onslaught on some species, such as a Crow, 

 which, for that time at any rate, has given it no 

 provocation whatsoever. Then, after signally 

 routing its fancied foe, it will return to the vicinity 

 of its " nest." Now is the time to watch carefully. 

 All large birds are impartially dealt with as they 

 occur: Herons, Curlews, Crows, Ravens, Eagles, 

 Buzzards, Harriers, Kestrels, and Short-eared 

 Owls, but seldom the Peregrine Falcon. A Short- 

 eared Owl, being of comparatively cumbersome 

 build and flight, experiences many an anxious 

 moment, for though not lacking in courage, neither 

 does its lithe tormentor. Moreover, the latter 's 

 movements are quick as thought, as it keeps rising 

 above and dabbing down at the object of its ire 

 with short, vicious stoops, the Owl narrowly 

 avoiding it on each and every occasion. 



With perhaps the exception of the juvenile 

 Hobby, only one other British hawk can possibly 

 pass muster for the Merlin, and then, of course, 

 both merely at the hands of the tyro. That is the 

 male Sparrow-Hawk (owing to its much larger size 

 the female, although brown on the back like the 

 hen Merlin, should never offer confusion, even to 

 the beginner), which, when fully matured, super- 

 ficially resembles the cock Merlin in being bluish- 

 grey on the back. In the hand, of course, the 

 one never-failing distinction between the two birds 



