MERLIN KESTREL. 7 



moment, and were no more thought of until his return home, 

 when a workman brought in a female merlin and a woodquest, 

 both of which were killed by the one discharge, and although 

 obtained nearly a mile and a half distant, they were doubt- 

 less the birds which had been first remarked by my infor- 

 mant. 



Prized in the days of falconry, the merlin was selected as 

 the hawk most suited to the fair admirers of hawking, equally 

 from its beauty of plumage as its courage, both of which ap- 

 peared so well fitted to typify the attractions of the gallant 

 cavalier who in most instances had presented it. Admired 

 by them with a perfect enthusiasm, it was as much the com- 

 panion of the boudoir and drawing-room as of the chase ; so 

 that we find in the " Lay of the Last Minstrel" a lady repre- 

 sented with a merlin upon her wrist during the celebration 

 of her marriage rites : 



" The Ladye by the altar stood, 

 Of sable velvet her array, 



A merlin sat upon her wrist, 

 Held by a leash of silken twist." 



Indigenous. 



SPECIES 7 THE KESTREL. 



Falco tinnunculus. Linn. 

 Faucon cresserelle. Temm. 

 Wind-hover. Sparrow-hawk. 



THE KESTREL is the only falcon that we can denominate com- 

 mon, as it is widely distributed in any situation which affords 

 it food and shelter. Not confined to locality, it is found equally 

 at home amidst the bold basaltic columns of the north, as 

 when tenanting the immense precipices of the western coast ; 

 and, in inland situations, it occupies for an abode the ruined 

 and ivy-clad tower and castle, where the u Reiving Baron" of 

 the feathered tribes still holds the sway once exercised by its 

 feudal possessor. Very common about Dublin, the kestrel 

 has usurped the breeding places where the peregrine once 

 reared its brood, and breeds at Lambay, Bray Head, and 

 Howth, in considerable numbers ; indeed, so common are they 

 at the last locality, that there are few who have visited its bold 

 precipitous rocks who have not observed its habits. 



In the summer of 1852 I had the pleasure of observing a 

 male and female, accompanied by their three young, all 



