86 MEKLItf. 



of its plumage to the stones on which it had fallen at the 

 side of the stream a novel appropriation of its name of 

 Stone Falcon that I the less wondered at having hefore 

 almost given up searching for it, and gone away with the 

 belief that it had not been killed, but only wounded, and 

 had run into some cover, than at finding it when I did. It 

 is considered rare in Cornwall, (one was shot there in 1849, 

 November 9th., near Falmouth, and one near Penryn,) Devon- 

 shire, Dorsetshire, Kent, one at Dodington, in 1840, Essex, 

 and Norfolk. 



It breeds in Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Cumber- 

 land. It is uncommonly met with in the neighbourhood of 

 Swinhope, Lincolnshire. The Rev. Leonard Jenyns mentions 

 one recorded by Graves, as having been killed in Cambridge- 

 shire. In Aberdeenshire, and other parts of Scotland, and in 

 the Orkney and Shetland Islands, it also breeds. In Ireland 

 it is indigenous, both in the northern and southern parts, 

 throughout the whole of the year, but would seem to be 

 somewhat locally migratory. It breeds on the mountains of 

 the counties of Londonderry, Tyrone, and Down, as also in 

 those of Waterford, Cork, Tipperary, and Kerry. In Wales, 

 it breeds on Cader Idris, and in other parts. 



The Merlin is partially migratory in this country, being 

 for the most part a constant resident in Scotland and the 

 northern parts of England, but appearing to be only a winter 

 visitant in the south. It has however, on one occasion, been 

 known to breed in the county of Suffolk, and probably may 

 have been overlooked in more frequent instances of the same 

 kind in those wilder districts, such as Dartmoor, which are 

 suitable to it. 



From a habit it has of perching on stones, it has acquired 

 the name of the Stone Falcon, and as such was formerly 

 described as a distinct species. It must have a fondness for 

 the practice, for it carries it out even on those rocks which 

 are left partially prominent by the receding tide, when hawking, 

 as it sometimes does, on the margin of the sea. 



It is a very courageous bird wild and shy, and according 

 to Temminck, is able to endure a high degree of cold, and 

 is described by him as being commonly found within the 

 limits of the arctic circle. It is easily tamed, though it 

 never becomes very familiar, and was accordingly in former 

 times employed in the chase. Except when the young are 

 hatched, it is difficult, on account of its wariness, to be 



