150 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 



with rufous. They closely- i-esemble young Hobbies, but are to be easily distin- 

 guished h\ a roiv oj coiisf^icitous oblong n'liitc s/'o/s oti tlic primar'us, which they have 

 in common with the adult females. 



Family— FA L CON/DyE. 



Merlin. 



Faico cesalon, TuxSTAlX. 



THIS courageous little Falcon, the smallest species of the British Falcoiiidcc, is 

 a frequenter of moorlands throughout the summer, and is to be found not 

 uncommonly in Wales, in the North of England, and in the mountainous parts 

 of Scotland and Ireland, while a few are found occasionally nesting so far to the 

 south as Exmoor. Being a Hawk it is, of course, much persecuted, and is yearlv 

 decreasing in numbers. It is resident in this countr^^ throughout the year ; in 

 the autumn it leaves the high grounds, following the migrations into the lowlands 

 of the small birds it preys iipon, and during the winter it may frequently be seen 

 in cultivated districts, fl3'ing low over the ground with rapid, skimming flight, 

 beating the sides of fences after the manner of a Sparrow-Hawk, in search of some 

 small bird which, flying before it, is captured in the air. Many of the Merlins 

 thus seen are immature birds that have arrived in this country from the northern 

 parts of the Continent. On the moors, to which it returns late in March or early 

 in April, the Titlark and the Twite are its favourite quarr\'. It also flies at Snipe, 

 Sandpipers, Golden Plovers, Lapwings, Grouse, and Partridges, occasionally feeding 

 on beetles ; while in the winter it is fond of haunting the coasts that it may 

 persecute the Tringa. In Ireland the Merlin will attend sportsmen who are 

 beating the bogs for Snipe, for the chance of a flight at the birds that ma}' be 

 flushed, and often stooping suddenh' will carry off their dead or wounded birds. 



