THE ANGLER'S BIRDS. 189 



the second week of July. They were, he said, 

 scuffling upon the ground on the East Devon 

 Golf Course fully a quarter of a mile from any 

 copse, so that the woodpecker must have been 

 chased and flown down in the open. 



In winter, the merlin can be counted as one 

 of the rarer birds to be seen near the estuary. 

 More than once I have come across its 

 shambles or larder a flat stone half way up 

 the hillside, where odd feathers and bones bear 

 evidence to the varied nature of its victims. 

 It is a graceful little falcon, hardly to be mis- 

 taken for any other species if seen in near 

 flight. On Woodbury Common, Black Hill, 

 and the high ground between Sidmouth and 

 Honiton, the sight of a merlin will often be 

 one of the rewards of a morning's walk. The 

 tail, when extended, has a broad dark bar at 

 the end while the upper parts are not unlike 

 a house-sparrow in colouring. All the under 

 parts, the throat and belly, incline to creamy 

 white. 



THE MARSH HARRIER. 



Among the really rare birds of the estuary 

 and marshes, the Marsh Harrier may occasion- 

 ally be seen usually towards evening; a large 

 but sombre grey form, diligently beating over 

 the ground in a methodical manner on the out- 

 look for a young rat, moorhen, or even a frog. 

 As I have only twice seen it once so close 

 within gunshot that it could not have been 

 missed the species is probably very uncommon 

 excepting in the fens of East Anglia. A little 



