252 



BRITISH BIRDS. 



[vol. XV. 



" Not a breath of wind stirred the ling. One by one the 

 Grouse grew silent. The fells purpling in the distance 

 faded into the blackness of night and a deathly silence fell 

 over the moor, broken only by the distant murmuring of 

 Gill Beck. 



Merlin: Fig. 14. Stage of plumage on ist August. 

 [Photographed by W. Rowan.) 



" As the moon rose higher behind heavy thunder clouds 

 I could just distinguish the nestlings, a motionless ball of 

 white. Twice between 11 and 12 I heard the Nightjar 

 close at hand, not the ' Churr,' for they all have well -grown 

 young now, but the monosyllabic call-note. It did not disturb 



