118 Bird-Nesting 



cured spots. Another specimen was killed at Sault St Marie 

 between Lakes Huron and Superior. 



Some ornithologists consider this species identical with the 

 European merlin, but Professor Ridgeway lias pointed out some 

 differences before overlooked, and it may now be considered a 

 distinct species. The only egg known is described as " buffy- 

 white, handsomely marbled, and irregularly spotted with 

 madder brown, size 1.52x1.22. 



The European merlin, a closely-allied species, is included in 

 the avi-fauna of North America, on account of a specimen be- 

 ing obtained at Cape Farewell, Greenland, in 1875. As this 

 species is so exceedingly plentiful in Iceland, I should think it 

 often wanders to the east coast of Greenland. 



In Iceland, it nests on the ground, sometimes on rocks, where 

 it makes a nest of a few sticks and grass, and lays four or five 

 eggs. I have a series of 60 eggs of this species that were col- 

 lected in Iceland, England and Scotland. The eggs are easily 

 distinguished from those of the European kestril, by their 

 smaller size, more oval shape, and darker colour. They are 

 reddish-brown, finely spotted, freckled or mottled all over with 

 dark brown, which almost conceals its ground colour, and gives 

 the eggs a dark brown appearance. In the British islands, 

 this species breeds as far south as Yorkshire, England, and its 

 eggs have been taken on Ilkley Moor, where I have frequently 

 seen the birds. They have a habit of frequenting a particular 

 rock or boulder to feed on, and I have come upon them sud- 

 denly at such spots. I once flushed a merlin from a rock 

 while it was plucking a lark ; the small bird was yet warm, 

 and all around the rock were feathers and small bones, as well 

 as wings of insects. The rock was whitewashed by the drop- 

 pings of the bird. In Yorkshire, the nests are made on the 

 ground, and composed of heather and grass. This is a beauti- 

 ful little falcon, and very bold and active. 



