On Moorlands and Roughs. 63 



of the young male. During the past quarter of a 

 century we have examined a great many skins of 

 the Merlin, and almost without exception the sexual 

 differences in colour were as described above. There 

 are authorities, however, that maintain that the adult 

 plumage of the female of this Falcon is very similar 

 to that of the male. In this we are disposed to con- 

 cur, for we have examined an adult female obtained 

 by Dr. Scully in Gilgit (and his sexing of specimens 

 is most reliable, as every naturalist who has had the 

 pleasure of seeing them will agree, the sexual organs 

 being in most cases sketched on the labels attached 

 to the skins), in which the sexual differences of colour 

 were most trifling. It is said that the females are 

 shot off in this country before they can obtain their 

 fully adult dress. In fairness, however, we must 

 state that there is always the possibility of very old 

 females assuming the male plumage, and their ap- 

 parent rarity may be due to this fact. 



Unfortunately the other moorland birds of prey 

 are now rare almost to the verge of extinction; 

 indeed, we regret to say the Merlin itself in not a 

 few localities is fast approaching the same condition. 

 The species that we shall allude to here is the Hen 

 Harrier. This bird, like nearly all the other birds 

 of the moors, is a migratory one, although there is 

 some evidence to suggest that in our islands the 

 movement is to some extent confined to a journey 



