THE MERLIN 283 



I refer to the males of Sparrow-Hawk and Merlin 

 is the tint of the irides.* If they are yellow, 

 then is the specimen a Sparrow-Hawk, if, how- 

 ever, hazel, then a Merlin. At a distance, however, 

 the beginner will find the diagnosis harder. Let 

 him recollect, however, that the Sparrow-Hawk 

 sports comparatively short, rounded wings, and has 

 at any rate a longer- looking tail than the Merlin, 

 while its flight, although at times fast, is not really 

 of the dashing order ; whereas the Merlin, particu- 

 larly the male Merlin, is long, narrow, and pointed 

 in the pinion, with a seemingly shorter tail, while 

 its mode of progression is lithe, eager, and galloping. 

 In a word, it is a true falcon. The flight of the 

 Merlin is extremely light and buoyant, and full of 

 dips and turns, albeit extraordinarily dashing ; in 

 fact, a flying Merlin especially a male resembles 

 very strongly in many respects a large Swallow, 

 more so indeed, I think, than the Hobby resembles 

 a big Swift. Merlins, too, do not glide so much 

 as most hawks. When they do, the glide is 

 usually of short duration ; while the wings, far 

 from being fully extended on either side of the body, 

 are somewhat held in and compressed, being as it 

 \vere half shut. The lithe little hawks love to fling 

 along a mountain-side at top speed, though their 

 limit does not nearly approach that of a Hobby 

 or, I doubt, that of at any rate an extended 

 Peregrine. 



* Of course this applies to the females as well, except that young 

 Sparrow-Hawks of both sexes have pale brown irideswhen first hatched. 



