BIRDS OF GUERNSEY. 11 



Merlins, both young birds, were brought in to 

 Mr. Couch's. Both were shot in the Vale, and I 

 saw a third near Cobo, but did not shoot it. This 

 also was a young bird. In some years Merlins 

 appear to be more numerous than in others, and 

 this seems to have been one of the years in which 

 they were most numerous. Unlike the Hobby, how- 

 ever, the Merlin does occasionally visit the Islands 

 in the spring, as I saw one at Mr. Jago's, the bird- 

 stuffer in Guernsey, which had been killed at Herm 

 in the spring of 1876. This is now in the collection 

 of Mr. Maxwell, the present owner of Herm. 

 Though the Merlin visits the Islands both in the 

 spring and autumn, I do not know that there is any 

 instance of its having remained to breed, neither do 

 I know of an occurrence during the winter. In the 

 * Zoologist ' for 1875 Mr. Couch, in a communica- 

 tion dated November 29th, 1874, says " A Merlin 

 a female was shot in the Marais, which had 

 struck down a Water Eail a minute or two before it 

 was shot. After striking down the Kail the Merlin 

 flew into a tree, about ten yards from which the 

 man who shot it found the Eail dead. He brought 

 me both birds. The skin of the Eail was broken 

 from the shoulder to the back of the skull." 



The more common prey, however, of the Merlin 

 during the time it remains in the Islands is the 

 Eing Dotterell, which at that time of year is to be 

 found in large flocks mixed with Purres and 



