The Nesting of the Merlin 



prey was at the nest; indeed, during all my visits I never saw 

 signs of any, so I imagine the parents were none too lavish 

 with their supplies. It is possible they may have had a 

 "larder " in the neighbourhood, where they kept their "kills " 

 until actually needed. A few castings of the young birds 

 lay in the nest, otherwise it was clean and tidy. 



In the strong breeze the grace and power of the merlin's 

 flight was seen at its best. Flying lightly and easily, the 

 birds moved rapidly backwards and forwards, little affected 

 by the wind. 



On June 28 I made an early start for the merlin's nest. 

 A thick frosty mist covered the lower grounds, and there 

 was a nip in the air associated more with an April than a June 

 morning. Passing an upland farm tenanted by fully a dozen 

 pairs of swifts, not a sign was to be seen of these birds, for 

 in the frosty air insect life was non-existent, so the swifts were 

 enjoying some hours of extra sleep ! 



The morning sun was shining bright and warm before 

 the merlins' nest was reached, and, as usual, the parent birds 

 called anxiously and often. 



The wing feathers of the young merlins had by now 

 appeared and were growing quickly, but much down still 

 covered them. I noticed how the down of the throat was 

 markedly lighter in colour than that on the other parts 

 of the body. Their legs were bright yellow, and their talons 

 well developed. They now strongly resented being handled, 

 turning over and striking upwards angrily with their feet, 

 as is shown in one of the photographs. Circumstances pre- 

 vented my visiting the young merlins again till July 15. I 

 had hoped to find them still in the nest, but was disappointed, 

 and from the behaviour of the parent birds, I surmised the 

 young were at a part of the moor some 250 yards from the 

 vicinity of the nest, but I did not actually see them. 



An interesting point about the now deserted nest was that 

 it did not contain a single bone of any of the merlins' victims. 

 Now, the peregrine's eyrie has, usually, bones in such 



35 



