HABITS OF THE MEELIN. 



77 



be accustomed to have its food placed upon the stuffed skin of a partridge, and when 



it has attained sufficient strength, the breast of a real partridge should be cut open, and a 



small portion of its ordinary food placed within the aperture, so as to encourage the bird 



to tear away the flesh in order to satiate its hunger. The next step is to substitute 



an entire partridge for the ordinary diet, and by degrees to teach it to pounce upon 



the dead bird as it is flung to a daily increasing distance. It is a good pigeon-hunter, 



and if the owner choose to train it for the smaller game, it is unrivalled as a chaser of 



thrushes, larks, and similar birds, 



owing to the pertinacity with _ , . - ^ 



which it carries on the pursuit, and 



the resolutely agile manner with 



which it will thread the mazes of 



branch and leaf in chase of a bird 



which seeks for refuge in the 



covert. 



Even on the wing, the Merlin 



may be known by its peculiar 



flight. Sometimes it may be seen 



skimming over the ground at a 



swift pace, but at no great eleva- 

 tion, at another it will urge its 

 s]3U'al course upwards in pursuit 

 of some prey which has taken 

 to " climbing the air," while at 

 another time it may be observed 

 following the course of some prey 

 with such singular exactness that 

 the two birds seem to be ani- 

 mated by the same spirit ; and the 

 turn is hardly commenced by the 

 fugitive before it is taken up by 

 the pursuer. In striking its prey 

 the Merlin is possessed of a 

 wonderful skill, the quarry falling 

 down almost as soon as it is 

 touched. It seems that the bird 

 is able to strike a vital part with 

 an almost imperceptible touch of 

 its claw or beak. 



The Llerlin frequently breeds 

 in England, and makes its nest 

 on the ground, generally choosing 

 for that purpose some spot where 

 large stones are tolerably plenti- 

 ful, and may serve as a protection 

 to the nest, as well as for a perch 

 on wliich the Merlin, like the 

 harrier, loves to sit and survey the prospect. Erom this habit of perching on pieces 

 of stone it has derived the name of Stone Falcon, a title which has been applied to this 

 bird in Germany and France as well as in England. Sometimes, but not often, the nest 

 is made on some rocky shelf on a precipice. The eggs are four or five in number, of a 

 light reddish-brown hue, covered with mottlings and splashes of a deeper tint. 



The colour of the IMerlin is very pleasing, but not very easy to describe, as it is not 



so conspicuous as in many of the hawks, and moreover is rather different in the two sexes. 



The top of the head is a slaty grey, marked with dark streaks running along the line 



of the head ; the beak and upper portions of the body arc of a similar slaty grey, but 



MERLIN. — Bypotriorchis dsalon. 



