36 BRITISH BIRDS. 



rounding country in search of more varied fare. The reasons for this 

 change of haunt are obvious. In the spring and summer the moorlands 

 and mountain-sides are replete with the food of its choice the Moor-Pipits, 

 Twites, and young Grouse; but in winter these Twites and Pipits are 

 compelled to seek fresh quarters. The Grouse are strong on the wing ; and 

 the Merlin must follow his quarry to the lowlands, or prey upon the shore- 

 birds, or seek the cover of our cities to feed upon the Sparrows and the 

 Pigeons. 



When the first signs of spring are seen on the moorlands, and the Snipes, 

 the Titlarks, and the Peewits have retired to them to breed, you may often 

 get a sight of this little warrior bird. He preys upon these birds of the 

 moor, which his rapid powers of flight enable him easily to fly down with- 

 out resorting to the manoeuvres which the clumsier Sparrow-Hawk is 

 compelled to take advantage of. These moors are the constant breeding- 

 place of three species of Hawk the Kestrel, the Sparrow-Hawk, and the 

 Merlin. The Kestrel hovers over the ground at a considerable height, and 

 pounces down on a mouse and occasionally a lizard or a young Grouse, as 

 the pellets it casts up abundantly testify. The Sparrow-Hawk skims over 

 hill-tops or hedges, beats the bushes and the shrubberies, or comes round 

 rocks on its prey unawares. The Merlin, on the contrary, fairly flies it 

 down. A true Falcon, it descends to none of these artifices, but takes its 

 prey by the aid of its superior power of wing alone. Nothing seems to 

 stop it ; and once the pursuit is commenced, rarely indeed does the quarry 

 escape. Dixon once saw this little Falcon " in chase of a common Sandpiper, 

 which it had started from a heath-grown bank. Pursuer and pursued 

 strove their utmost, the poor Sandpiper doubling, rising, and turning from 

 side to side alternately, and its relentless pursuer following closely every 

 movement as though guided by a common impulse. Over a mountain- 

 lake the chase was given, offering a fine uninterrupted view of each bird's 

 great power of wing, the Sandpiper gaining a brief respite by hiding 

 amongst a tuft of herbage on the shore. But the Merlin, nothing daunted, 

 waited the rising of its victim, and the pursuit was renewed. The poor bird 

 wheeled rapidly round, then darted forward, but all in vain ; the Merlin's 

 superior power of flight and endurance prevailed, and the poor Sandpiper, 

 wearied and exhausted, with a cry of terror, was struck down. No bird 

 of prey pursues its quarry with more vigour ; and a chase of this descrip- 

 tion once seen can never be forgotten." The " Summer Snipe," however, 

 is not the Merlin's only prey. The Lapwings and Golden Plovers, although 

 almost twice its size and weight, are easily taken ; so are the young Grouse, 

 Snipes, and the various smaller birds of the wilds : none can escape him, 

 not even the swift-flying Swallow; and he is justly feared as the terror of 

 the moors. No wonder the gamekeepers are up in arms against him. Yet 

 when we bear in mind the protective tints and the cunning wiles of those 



