54 FALCONIDJE. 



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 anything 

 he has taken. The more common food of this species is 

 small birds. 



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 win- 

 ter visitor in this country ; but it is now very well as- 

 certained 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 instances 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 

 Ireland, according to Mr. Thompson, the Merlin is indi- 



