12 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



bush. The wonderful evolutions and move- 

 ments in which the bird indulges, its sudden 

 swoops, its ascending and descending, seem all 

 regulated by its tail. 



A male and female Harrier generally hunt 

 together, and afford a pretty sight as they 

 " harry " the game, driving it from one to the 

 other, and hawking in most systematic fashion. 

 They thoroughly quarter the ground previously 

 marked out, and generally with success. When 

 they hawk the quiet mountain tarns, their mode 

 is regulated according to circumstance. In 

 such instances, they not unfrequently sit and 

 watch, and capture their prey by suddenly 

 pouncing upon it. 



The great grouse poachers of the moors are 

 the beautiful little Merlins. They work to- 

 gether over the heather like a brace of well- 

 broken pointers. Not an object escapes them ; 

 however closely it may conform to its environ- 

 ment, or however still it may keep, it is detected 

 by the sharp eye of the Merlin and put away. 

 The miniature falconry in which this bird 

 indulges on the open moorlands, where nothing 

 obstructs the view, is one of the most fasci- 

 nating sights in nature. 



