MERLIN. 61 



in proportion to his size, is this little bird, that a male 

 Merlin, not weighing more than six ounces, has been seen 

 to strike and kill a Partridge that was certainly more than 

 twice his own weight ; and so tenacious generally is he of 

 his prey, that it is very difficult to make him quit any- 

 thing he has taken. The more common food of this 

 species is small birds, and they have been seen in chase 

 of the smaller marine shore birds, as the Sanderling and 

 Dunlin. 



The Merlin was formerly, and is now occasionally, 

 trained ; and Sir John Sebright, in the pamphlet already 

 quoted, says, " He will take Blackbirds and Thrushes. 

 He may be made to wait on, that is, hover near, till the 

 bird to be pursued is started again ; but though a Merlin 

 will sometimes kill a Partridge, they are not strong enough 

 to be effective in the field." 



The Merlin was formerly considered to be only a winter 

 visitor in this country ; but it is now very well ascertained 

 that this species breeds on the moors of some northern 

 counties. Mr. Selby has found the nest several times in 

 Northumberland ; and Dr. Heysham mentions three in- 

 stances that came to his knowledge of Merlins' nests in 

 Cumberland, where, he says, this bird remains all the 

 year. Mr. Eyton tells me that it breeds on Cader Idris ; 

 and Mr. Dovaston sent a notice to his friend Mr. Bewick, 

 " on the authority of the gamekeeper at Wynstay Park, 

 North Wales, that he had often seen the nest of the 

 Merlin, and that it built and bred there in the summer of 

 1826." In the more southern counties of Cornwall and 

 Devonshire, the Merlin is considered to be rare, and only 

 seen in winter. On our eastern coast it is killed, but not 

 very often, in Kent, Essex, and Norfolk. The specimens 

 obtained are generally young birds ; and these occur most 

 frequently in autumn, or at the beginning of winter. In 



