296 JOVBNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVII 



grey, with dark shafts to the feathers. Primaries are 

 blackish, the inner webs barred with whitish towards 

 the base, and outer webs tinged with blue grey. Tail 

 bluish grey tinged with whitish and sometimes with a 

 faint rufescent wash, and a broad band of black 

 immediately before the terminal white tip. 



Throat white and the rest of lower plumage whitish 

 with a rufous tinge, and dark brown shaft-stripes. 



The female differs from the male in havmg the head 

 brown or brownish, with dark shafts to the feathers 

 and the upper parts generally brownish with a grey 

 tinge and reddish margins to the feathers. 



" The tail barred throughout, and the quills with 

 rufous cross-bands ; the nuchal collar and lower parts 

 less rufous than in the male and the breast and upper 

 abdomen with much broader brown shaft-stripes 

 these frequently occupying more space than the white 

 borders. 



" Young birds of both sexes resemble the female, 

 but are browner with broader rufous edges to the fea- 

 thers of the upper parts, with the crown rufous (dark- 

 shafted), and with the tail alternately banded brown 

 and white ; the quills too are barred almost across" 

 (Blanford). 



" Bill dark slaty grey, greenish at base of lower 

 mandible ; cere legs and feet yellow ; irides brown" 

 (Hume). 



"Length of a female about 12"'; tail 5*5; wing 

 8* 75; tarsus 1'5; mid-toe 1'3; bill from gape "8; 

 Length of a male 11 ; wing 8". (Blanford). 

 Habits, etc. The Merlin is another of our winter visitants, arriv- 



ing in the autumn and leaving again in the spring. 

 It is much esteemed for falconry and for its size 

 is second to none in point of speed and courage, and 

 few fa' cons can show a more pleasing spectacle than 

 the little M erlin in pursuit of a hoopoe or a lark. They 

 are very easily tamed and trained but are dehcate 

 and require careful handling. 



This species is much given to sitting on the ground, 

 or on low bushes, whence it can keep a sharp look out 

 for birds passing overhead. When in full chase the 

 flight of this bird is not unlike that of the Shaheen but 

 more undulating, something like that of a flock of 

 starlings. A " bund " between two dry paddy fields 

 or the open plains adjoining a stream or river, are 

 favourite haunts of the Merlin and, if watched, it will 

 be noticed that its little head is hardly still for a second . 

 It appears to be on sjirings, bobbing this way and that, 

 ever on the look out for some luckless quarry. Hav- 

 ing sighted something worthy of its attentions, it will 

 rise hurriedly and go off with fast vibrating wings, 

 inclining steadily upwards. If you have the good 

 fortune to see the object of its attentions, possibly a 

 flock of sparrows or wagtails, you will notice that the 

 moment they realize their danger, they will begin to 

 mount higher and higher, but the Merhn is mounting 



