108 BIRD LIFE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 



tamely before us or wade knee-deep in the shallows, 

 while amongst the tufts of sedge, under shelter of 

 the bog myrtles, is a Snipes' nest, containing newly- 

 hatched young in their richly variegated down, amongst 

 which dull red predominates. 



But forward again, over heather-grown slopes, now 

 broken by a few rocky ledges where the growth is 

 taller, having escaped burning when the moor was 

 fired in order that the tender shoots of the ling, as it 

 begins to grow again, may afford food for the grouse. 

 Here we may expect to find the Merlin, and sure 

 enough, with sharp ringing note our gallant little 

 falcon cleaves the air, in outline not unlike a large 

 swift. In a hollow, deep down amongst the heather, 

 are the four red eggs, smaller and more finely marked 

 than those of the kestrel, in the slightest of nests — a 

 mere handful of moss and dried grass. Much perse- 

 cuted by the game-watcher for reputed depredations 

 amongst the young grouse is the blue-backed merlin, 

 though, judging from its castings, its usual prey appears 

 to be the meadow-pipit, with an occasional wheatear 

 or ring-ouzel. No doubt also the twite, the "yellow- 

 billed lintie " of the Scotch moors, furnishes it with 

 many a meal. 



The merlin's noble relative, the Peregrine Falcon, 

 naturally meets with scant shrift, and is now banished 

 from the neighbourhood of most grouse-moors, though 

 a number of eyries remain upon the coast, usually upon 



