58 FALCONID.E. 



In character the Merlin is courageous, extremely wild, and 

 shy. Although of small dimensions, this spirited little Hawk 

 frequently attacks birds much larger and stronger than itself. 

 Its usual prey consists of larks, swallows, linnets, chaffinches, 

 goldfinches, and other small birds that live much on the 

 wing : thrushes and plovers sometimes become its prey, and 

 it is said to take quails and young partridges when it can 

 surprise them flying, but it is not able to take birds of this 

 size from the ground. It also, in common with other small 

 Hawks, feeds upon cockchafers and other flying insects. 

 When in pursuit of its prey in the open moors, in which it 

 delights, the Merlin may be seen flying from stone to stone 

 watching the larks and other small birds that frequent such 

 situations. This habit of resting upon a stone has ob- 

 tained for him in several countries appropriate names 

 synonymous with its common English appellation — Stone 

 Falcon. 



The Merlin is indigenous in some of the northern counties 

 of England, also in Scotland and the Scottish Isles. Monsieur 

 Temminck, in the fourth volume of his Manuel d'Ornithologie, 

 says the Merlin rarely breeds in the temperate parts of Eu- 

 rope, and only in the most elevated regions. During the 

 breeding season, he observes, it inhabits Sweden and other 

 northern parts, the rocky districts of Norway, and the island 

 of Bornholm in the Baltic, and extends beyond the region 

 of the arctic circle. In England, according to Mr. Selby, it 

 breeds in the extensive upland moors of Northumberland, 

 where he has frequently met with its nest placed in all in- 

 stances upon the ground amongst the heather. The eggs of 

 the Merlin, according to the same authority, are of a bluish 

 white colour, marked with brown spots, principally disposed 

 at the larger end. 



The eggs appear subject to variation in colour : the one 



