OCCASIONAL NOTES. 49 
through the air, which makes him look so very like a Missel Thrush in the 
distance. The female Merlin, on the other hand, is more graceful in her 
flight, though the motion of her wings in chasing a Lark over a stubble-field 
is sometimes inconceivably rapid. I have twice seen one chasing a Lark in 
this manner, though apparently not particularly anxious to catch it. On 
one occasion I saw a female Merlin dashing at two Partridges on the ground, 
and on my putting them up she instantly darted after them from a low 
bough on which she had been sitting. I have just said that the male Merlin 
does not usually exceed eleven inches in length. It is worthy of note, how- 
ever, that I have seen black-backed birds from Egypt that must have been 
fully twelve inches long. ‘The labels had been lost, and therefore the sex 
was not known for certain, but it seems possible that these may have been 
females assuming the male plumage, especially as they were not very rufous 
underneath. I may observe that the under side of the wings looks very 
white in the Merlin, thus affording a good mark of distinction at a distance. 
The male and female Kestrels keep very much apart. On December 20th 
I had not seen a female for many weeks, but on the 6th of that month 
I saw three males close together; and it is noticeable how often Kestrels 
and Hobbies go about in trios. I am glad to see by Mr. Rodd’s letter that 
I am not singular in thinking that there are two races of black-clawed 
Kestrels, for the white-clawed Lesser Kestrel and Red-legged Falcon may 
more appropriately be termed “ Kestrelets,” as indeed they have been termed 
by a writer in ‘The Ibis.’ The extremely small appearance of the male 
Kestrel when flying at a great height, with wings half closed and feathers 
close to its body, is remarkable. It looks then no bigger than a Swift, and 
the fawn-colour of the under parts looks almost black. The female Kestrel 
may be distinguished by being slightly longer, with a thicker head and 
neck and much whiter under parts. ‘The rufous of the upper parts is also 
paler, and looks yellow in the distance. When old, it gets very gray on the 
rump and tail, and I got one this year in which all trace of rufous had 
vanished from those parts. Even in immature plumage the male may 
usually be distinguished by a deeper tone of colouring on the back and 
darker quills. In this stage he looks a curious coppery colour when sitting. 
Though more slenderly built, and as a rule a shorter bird than his mate, 
his wings do not seem any shorter in proportion, and he consequently looks 
longer-winged. The reverse is the case with the Merlin, the distinction in 
size being manifest in all the proportions. A son of one of the keepers 
here saw seven Sparrowhawks together near the village of Chalk. He 
knows the species well, and thought they looked like an old female and six 
young ones. I think this was in September. 1876 was a great year for 
them, and I have seen more female Sparrowhawks during the past autumn 
than I ever remember to have seen before. I saw one from Egypt the other 
day which measured sixteen inches, the extra length being chiefly in the 
H 
