THE MERLIN. 19? 



lemon-colour: the irides very dark, almost black: 

 the head is ferruginous, and each feather is marked 

 with a black streak along the shaft: the back and 

 wings are of a deep blueish ash-colour, adorned 

 with ferruginous streaks and spots, and edged with 

 the same: the quill-feathers are almost black, mark- 

 ed with reddish oval spots: the under coverts of 

 the wings brown, beautifully marked with round 

 white spots : the tail is five inches long, crossed 

 with alternate bars of dusky and reddish clay- 

 colour : on some of the feathers of the same bird 

 are thirteen, on some fifteen; but in one bird I 

 examined were no more than eight: the breast 

 and belly are of a yellowish white, marked with 

 oblong brown spots pointing downwards : the legs 

 yellow: the wings when closed reach within an 

 inch and a half of the end of the tail. This species 

 was often trained for hawking, and small as it is, 

 was inferior to none in point of spirit : it was used 

 for taking partridges, which it would kill by a 

 single stroke on the neck. The Merlin flies low, 

 and is often seen along road-sides, skimming from 

 one side of the hedges to the other in search of 

 prey." 



The Merlin, according to Mr. Pennant, does 

 not breed in England, but migrates into this 

 country in October, about the time that the Hobby 

 disappears. Mr. Latham however, on the au- 

 thority of a highly respectable observer, assures 

 us that it breeds in Cumberland, placing its nest 

 on the ground, in the manner of the Ring-Tail, 



