6 BIEDS OF MIDDLESEX. 



unerring aim that it seldom fails to secure the 

 selected prey. 



I have seen a female Hobby which was killed 

 on Hampstead Heath, while in pursuit of a wounded 

 swallow. This was on the 22nd August, 1864. 



Mr. Belfrage, who has kept the Hobby in confine- 

 ment in his garden at Muswell Hill, observed that 

 the note of this bird is so similar to that of the 

 Wryneck, that in the spring, when he has had fre- 

 quent opportunities of hearing both birds at once, 

 he could scarcely distinguish the one from the 

 other. This remark I am able to confirm, from 

 observation of a tame Hobby which I have kept 

 for some time, and which is still alive. 



MERLIN, Falco cesalon. Visits the South of 

 England in October, about the time that the Hobby 

 retires. In this county it is a rare visitant. Only 

 two instances of its occurrence have come under my 

 notice. In the winter of 1857, a birdcatcher netted 

 an immature female Merlin on Hampstead Heath ; 

 and an unusually large bird of this species was shot 

 at Stone Bridge, on the Brent, in April, 1861. The 

 latter specimen I obtained for my collection. From 

 the size and markings, I believe it to be also an 

 immature female, but this fact was not ascertained 

 when it was skinned. Meyer says that the Merlin, 

 when on the wing, may be distinguished from the 

 Hobby by the greater length of its tail in pro- 

 portion to the wings, and by its more robust form. 



